Crossfire
by katiesfic
Summary: Drugs, sex, violence. Fiore is run by the Four Fathers, mobster syndicates that devide up the territory of the continent. Lucy, a rescued prostitute with a memory problem, finds herself caught in the middle of an upcoming war. When she gets involved with a Twilight named Natsu, Lucy must choose between her blood family and her newfound family. Gangsta. au. MATURE CONTENT.
1. Haze

**Content warning: this is a MATURE story that deals with mentions of rape, drugs, and explicit violence**

Lucy woke up to the warm feeling of sunlight streaking across her face, a single beam of light shining through a crack in the curtain covered window. She blinked her eyes slowly, her vision blurry from the cocktail of drugs that had been forced into her system throughout the night. She lay in alone in a large bed, the silk sheets pooling around her naked body, covering her from any watchful eye. She moved slightly, a soreness between her legs wracking her body with pain that made her aware of the fact that she had not been alone at some point throughout the night, the thought sickening her.

She wasn't quite sure how long she had been living in the house she was in. A few months perhaps, though she could only guess. The constant drugs that were pushing through her system left her in a stupor, unable to properly respond or even recognize her surroundings. She eventually came to crave the drugs; begging for the haze any time a man entered her room, belt undone, and she was forced to be at least semi-conscious for the ordeal that happened next.

Lucy couldn't remember much from before she was in the house. Her memories were foggy; the only thing she was absolutely positive was that her name was Lucy, because that's what Bora called her. Somewhere deep in her mind, hidden behind the hazy cloud of drugs, Lucy could hear faint voices refer to that as her name as well, and she hung on to that thought-the thought that she could remember who she was and return back to anyone who had missed her. When she was able to form a coherent thought, Lucy often wondered if anyone was looking for her. She wasn't positive she had a home or a family to go back to, but she desperately clung to the hope that she did.

She rolled over in bed, clutching the thin white sheets over her body like a protective barrier. She knew that a simple sheet couldn't stop anyone who entered her room, especially not while she was still in a daze, but in some childlike way she felt at least somewhat protected for the moment. The effect of the drugs from the night before were starting to wear off, and Lucy knew that she was going to become coherent again. Desperately she wished that she could gain function of her body again, if only for a few short hours, so she was able to attempt an escape.

After several moments, Bora walked in carrying a tray with a bowl of oatmeal and a syringe laying atop it. Tears flooded her vision, Lucy whispering feverishly to herself, pleading that he wouldn't use the syringe on her. He edged closer, a wolfish grin on his face, placing the tray down and picking up the syringe.

Moments later she was returned to her foggy state, the pain between her legs slowly becoming a dull ache as her consciousness slipped away.

* * *

Walking through the back alleys of Magnolia had always been a pain for Natsu. As an impatient person with too much pride, he was always annoyed at the fact that Gray was never comfortable walking the main streets with him. He knew that the dirty looks and mistreatment he got from Magnolia's citizens was just from a deep rooted prejudice, and it didn't bother him, but it did bother Gray and to keep the peace he walked the back alleys like some street rat.

It was frustrating, that was for sure, but Natsu had let go of the anger he felt years ago. Igneel had always just laughed and told him 'that's just how it is here-and everywhere else' whenever Natsu had thrown a fit in his younger years. The fear that people still felt in regards to the Twilights wasn't going away anytime soon, so he either had to accept it and move on, or retaliate and cause more problems.

Natsu hated the back alleys for the simple fact that they took too damn long to walk through, the main streets cutting their time by half or more, and the fact that they smelled like shit. The back alley stench was a mix of piss, sewer water, garbage and the spray paint that graffitied the old buildings. The smell always made Natsu's nose wrinkle and stomach curl with disgust, the unpleasantness never going away.

"Jellal says he has a job for us," Gray spoke up after several moments of silence, his dark eyes scanning the screen of his cellphone as he read over a text. "He says it pays pretty well."

"That just means it's a lot more trouble," Natsu grinned at nothing in particular, the excitement of a potential fight burning in his stomach. He had been itching for a job; Magnolia had been too quiet for days and he was starting to get restless.

"Keep it in your pants, it's gross having you get so excited over nothing," Gray pulled at face at his partner, nose scrunching in disgust.

"Yeah, yeah," Natsu waved him off, glancing around the streets as they made their way through Magnolia's underbelly. "Where are we meeting him this time?"

Gray peered down at the tiny screen again, humming thoughtfully. "That street behind Porlyusica's, the quiet one with the graffiti."

"There's graffiti everywhere around here."

"The one with the huge dick," Gray said as he felt around his chest for his pack of cigarettes, pulling one out and lighting it. Natsu said nothing, knowing exactly what street he was talking about.

They walked for several moments in silence, passing by back alley drug deals and sleeping homeless people. Magnolia was, for the most part, a great city. It was the main domain of one of the Four Father's, Makarov Dreyar, and well known for being a great tourist attraction. However, with every boon there was a bane and any territory that was under the influence of a Father was bound to have a darker side. Drugs and other illegal imports were many of the things trafficked in the alleys, but that also left room for gambling houses, whore houses and anything in between.

None of that bothered either Natsu or Gray, considering their line of work they were either helping traffick things or attending any number of unsavoury establishments. As long as things were running smoothly in Makarov's eyes, it didn't quite matter much what was going on in the city. The nightlife of Magnolia was dark and full of sin, but it raked in a ton of cash for the syndicate, which kept Makarov happy.

Eventually they found themselves entering the clearing where a giant rainbow coloured penis was spray painted onto a brick wall, enticing a snort from Natsu upon arrival. Parked awkwardly in front of it was a cop car, police Chief Jellal Fernandez leaning up against the hood, smoking a cigarette. He nodded as the two arrived, blue hair falling over his tattooed eye.

"Good morning," he greeted, shifting the cigarette to the corner of his mouth. "Thanks for coming."

"Anything for you, baby," Gray winked, pulling his own cigarette from his mouth and throwing it on the ground, stomping it out. "What do you have for us today?"

Jellal grabbed a manila folder from where it rested on the hood of his car next to him, tossing it to Gray without warning. He caught it with ease, opening it and flipping through casually, leaning in towards Natsu so he had a chance to peek at their newest job. All that Natsu could gain from it was something to do with the port town of Hargeon and drugs. It disinterested him immediately.

"You're sending us to Hargeon?" Gray glanced up, skeptical. "That's Heartfilia territory."

"Yeah, I know," Jellal sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I've had a source stationed there for a couple months and they've been following around that sub-house, Straigos. Apparently they've been importing tons of drugs from overseas and also trafficking girls. They're untouchable by the law in that city, so I want you guys to go and…teach them a lesson about being law abiding citizens. Think you can do that?"

"Isn't this a conflict of interest?" Gray held up the folder. "Technically this is two Houses going against each other. Won't that cause issues?"

"Good," Natsu spoke up then, a wolfish grin on his face and fire in his stomach. "Those Straigos pieces of shit work under Ivan directly, and you know as well as I do that that bastard has it comin'."

"I'm aware that it has the _potential_ to cause issues," Jellal said, looking bored. "However, the reason I asked you two is because I figured you could handle it with a bit of decency. They don't need to know you work for Makarov as long as you keep it on the DL, got it?"

"This can really fuck things up, Fernandez, so you'd better be paying us a helluva lot," Gray said, smirking at the police chief.

"How does 25 thousand Jewels sound?" Jellal kept eye contact with Gray, while reaching for another cigarette.

"Sounds just dandy," Gray said, turning to look at Natsu and grinning.

"Good because I need it done today. They're preparing to move a ship tonight and I want those girls outta there-and don't you dare hurt one fucking hair on their heads, or I'll kill you myself, got it?" Jellal pointed his lit cigarette at them threateningly, tone serious. "I need each one of those girls to tell me if there's a bigger circus going on that I need to know about. Bring them all back safe and sound, and maybe-just maybe-there'll be a bonus in it for you."

Natsu whistled lowly, excitement bubbling within him. This was the most money they'd made in awhile, and probably the most they were ever going to make for another while longer. It was a dangerous game they were playing, two members of one House going onto another House's territory and fucking with their merchandise. It had the potential to start a war, not that Natsu would have minded that one bit.

"Here," Jellal shifted from his seated position and walked around to the drivers side of the cruiser, sticking his arm through the open window and retrieving a brown paper bag, handing it to Gray. "That should be enough to get you there and back, as well as tickets for the girls. There's extra in case you need to spend the night somewhere, but don't use it if you don't gotta."

"Tickets?" Natsu asked, looking confused before the realization dawned on him and he turned to glare at his partner. "He means _train_ tickets?"

Gray took the bag and shrugged, giving Natsu a look that was void of any sympathy. "Sorry man, it's not like we can walk to another city. Even if we did, that ship will probably be long gone."

"Just tough it out this once if it means getting back at Ivan-not that anyone can know about it, however," Jellal said with a slight smirk. "And also, not that I need to clarify with you guys, but none of those Straigos pricks can get out of this alive, capiche? Anyone who can run back to Ivan and identify you has to be eliminated."

"Sounds like my dream job," Natsu smiled wickedly, the itch to kill burning through his body. Even if it meant taking transportation and suffering for it, it would all be worth it in the end.

"Then get the fuck out of here, what are you waiting for? The last train to Hargeon leaves at noon," Jellal shooed them way, flicking his cigarette to the side and sliding into his cruiser. "I'd best see you-and every last fuckin' one of those girls-tomorrow at the station."

He started the cruiser and drove off without another word, leaving Natsu and Gray in a cloud of dust. They watched him go until he was out of sight, then turned to shrug at each other, walking off in the direction of Magnolia's train station. They had half an hour to get there and buy their tickets before departing on what was likely their most sensitive case ever.

* * *

The rest of the day had gone by in a daze for Lucy, like they most often did. She had eaten a small meal, got pumped full of drugs again, and was visited by numerous men from the city. She was thankful she didn't remember the experiences, or their faces, and hoped that portion of her day ended with the man who had left just after sundown.

Her prayers had been answered, apparently, when Bora had come to collect her from her room. She vaguely remembered asking him where they were going, to which he only responded with 'somewhere far away'. Somewhere beneath the drug filled haze, the working part of her brain wondered if he was going to kill her. She feared death, at least, a graphic one, but in the drug induced stupor she couldn't find herself to care.

She was starting to become lucid when he threw her in the back of the van with other girls, all of them sharing the same emotionless, glassy eyed stare that she had courtesy of the drugs. They drove for maybe twenty minutes, the smell of fish and saltwater getting stronger by the second. Lucy couldn't tell what streets they were going down, and she could barely recognize what the inside of the van looked like due to the brain fog, but if she concentrated hard enough she prayed that she could remember even the faintest detail to help her come back to consciousness.

Eventually the van stopped, jerking to a halt and forcing the girls in the back to jostle against each other in surprise. Only a few made a startled noise, most of them so out of it due to the drugs they hardly noticed what had happened. Lucy had bumped her head against the side of the van, welcoming the sharp pain knowing it meant that she was starting to regain her consciousness.

Bora and several of his men opened the double doors to the back of the van, the larger men picking up the girls and carrying them off into the night. Lucy's vision was clouded, but she could make out the moon's reflection on the water, knowing that they were at the docks. She didn't have a single idea why they were there, but the anxiety swirling in her stomach was a warning that she was in danger.

One of the men came back and grabbed Lucy, lifting her out of the van and towards the dock. Her vision was still impaired, but she caught a glimpse of a huge boat, rocking gently in the water next to the dock. The man's footfalls were heavy on the wooden dock, echoing across the water as he carried her up a plank and into the boat, where she was placed in a room with the other girls.

When all the girls were brought in, the men locked the door behind them and walked away. Lucy was left in a low lit, tightly cramped space, her arms and legs numb as she lay on the ground of the gently swaying ship. The smell of salt water and fish was heavy in her nose, and she chose to focus on that in the hopes that the fog clouding her brain would begin to clear up. She tried counting backwards from ten in her head while focusing her blurred vision on the fingers of her right hand, mentally forcing herself to get them to move. The tips of two of her fingers twitched, and she guessed that it would take a lot more time and energy to gain the feeling back in her limbs while the drugs were still in her system.

The dull roar of an engine ripped through the belly of the ship, and the boat rocked more intensely as they began their departure from port. Silently, Lucy did her best to count backwards, the numbers desperately clawing their way from the lucid part of her brain, buried deep beneath the haze. _7...6...5…_ she counted, trying to steady her breaths as the numbers came easier, pleading silently to herself to get her fingers to move.

 _4...3...2…_ the second joints of three of her fingers flexed, and suddenly Lucy felt hope well within her. Even if she ended up dead, she was going to do her best to get off this boat tonight.

* * *

Natsu and Gray had spent the better part of their day scouting the docks undercover. They rented a boat with some of the money Jellal had given them, choosing to hide out in the harbour and keep their eyes out for anything suspicious. For the most part, Gray chain smoked cigarettes and Natsu hung around the shops in front of the docks, buying food and trying to get a different perspective on the harbour. Nothing happened the entire day, and both men felt like they had pretty much spent their time picking their asses, having done nothing productive.

However, when night fell, things started to pick up. When it reached two am the partners noticed three utility vans pull up close to the dock, no license plates to identify them. Gray snapped a few pictures with a camera before setting it aside, picking up the guns he had spent most of his free time disassembling, cleaning and reassembling before putting them away in the holsters attached to his torso. Lifting a hand to the ear piece in his ear, Gray told Natsu to return to the boat he was on, getting ready to lift the anchor so they could leave.

"Why don't we just get 'em here?" Natsu groaned quietly in Gray's ear, sounding frustrated. "We don't even need to leave land-let's just kill them all right now."

Gray smirked, attaching extra bullet clips to a strap running across his chest. "It's not my fault you have the stupidest compensation on the planet, so just work with me here. I'm sure there's probably snipers hiding out in one of those buildings, and I really don't feel like getting shot today."

"I could take them, they wouldn't even see me coming."

"Your confidence is gonna get you killed, idiot," Gray shook his head, his smirk widening a fraction into a lopsided grin. "Now get your ass back here before I leave you alone and rescue those ladies all by my lonesome. And, of course, I'll keep the reward for myself as well."

There was a pregnant pause before Natsu sighed again, sounding defeated. "Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a twist. I'll be there in a sec, just wait for me."

"Hurry up princess," Gray teased, and the growl he got in response forced a short laugh out of his mouth.

While he waited for Natsu, Gray picked up the camera once more, rotating the zoom on the parked vans. He snapped a few shots of men climbing out of them, taking several of a taller man with blue hair and a small tattoo above his eye, whom Gray recognized from the folder as a prick named Bora who was wanted on sex trafficking charges. Not that he was going to be seeing a day in court anyway, the bastard skipping any and all trials and instead being sent straight to hell by the end of the night.

He watched as the men started pulling metal briefcases from the back of one of the vans, carrying them across the dock and into an unmarked merchants ship. Gray took a couple pictures of them as well as the boat, though he assumed Jellal wasn't going to get anything from such a nondescript looking ship. It blended perfectly with the other ships that sailed across the sea, nothing about it sticking out enough to warrant suspicion.

After the briefcases had been brought on board, the men went back and started carrying unconscious women from the back of one of the vans. Gray counted eight women, and his stomach curled with disgust. He could only imagine the horrible things these women had gone through in their time with Bora, and were about to be sold off to experience, undoubtedly, even more unspeakable atrocities.

Natsu came back while Gray was watching the women be brought on board the ship, setting down a small cup of steaming coffee on the table where Gray was seated. The boat shifted slightly and Natsu forced himself into a seat, curling in on himself and putting his head between his knees as a wave of nausea passed through him. Fighting on a ship was going to be tough, even with the meds Porlyusica had given him. He had to save all of his mental energy on the ride over there to even be lucid for the impending fight.

"I'm going to go lift the anchor, the boats gonna rock a bit so prepare yourself," Gray said as he put the camera down again, standing up from his spot at the tiny table and walking in the direction of the exit. "I know you're a huge idiot, so I'm just gonna remind you-don't turn on any fuckin' lights whatsoever or we're fucked, got it?"

Natsu let out a strangled groan in reply, tensing his body in preparation for the boat to rock.

Gray exited the tiny inner portion of the boat, walking cautiously towards the side of the ship where the anchor had been thrown. He tried his best to lift it quietly, attempting to avoid hitting it off the side of the ship and giving away their location. They were far enough away from Bora's ship where noise shouldn't have been an issue, but considering how sensitive of a case it was, Gray was trying to be on his best behaviour.

When the anchor was secured on the ship, Gray walked back into the cabin area. He turned the key to the boats ignition, making sure all the lights were off and that Bora's ship had enough time to get far away enough so that they didn't notice they were being followed. Depending on how far they got into the ocean, this could technically turn into a non-territorial battle, and could potentially make things easier for Gray and Natsu.

Pressing lightly on the gas pedal, Gray maneuvered their ship out of the port. Natsu groaned more loudly, fisting his fingers in his obnoxious pink hair and making retching noises. It was the worst possible case for Natsu's compensation to kick in, the possibility that Gray would have to go in alone was becoming all too real unless Natsu was able to get his act together within the next couple hours.

As they drove after Bora's ship, the moonlight reflecting off of the choppy waters between the two boats, Gray prayed silently that this night didn't end in a complete bloodbath for both parties.

* * *

As time continued to pass, Lucy was becoming increasingly aware of her surroundings. She had managed to get most of the feeling back in her right hand, and she was working diligently on her left, when her vision started to clear up. The room she was in was small and dimly lit, with a green carpet that was stained with something frighteningly similar to the colour of blood. Several other girls were laid out around her, the only sign of life in any of them was the occasional expand and contract of their torsos as they took slow, laboured breaths.

Blinking rapidly, Lucy tried turning her head towards the door. Her neck felt heavy and limp, like she was a rag doll trying to get cotton limbs to move on their own. It was no easy feat, but she managed to shift just enough to get a clear glimpse of the wooden door that was, from what she could tell, her only exit.

She had no idea how many men were on this ship, and what weapons they were carrying, which put her at a major disadvantage. She knew she could try to be quiet as she wandered through the ship, but she barely knew which way was up and she wasn't even sure her limbs would cooperate enough to get her on her feet. She refused to give up, however, continuing her counting and attempts to get her left hand to move.

She heard shifting in the room, the rustle of clothes and the sound of a quieted frustrated huff catching her attention. The edges of her vision were starting to return to her, and with her eyes trained on the door, the figure of a female came into her sight. Shock rocked her body one she realized this woman was moving freely, as if the drugs had no affect on her. She was crouching by the door, her ear placed to the wall as she tried listening for any sounds of life outside the room.

Forgetting about her hand for the moment, Lucy focused her attention on her lips. She was extremely dehydrated and her throat was already screaming before she even made a sound. She counted down from ten, trying to form a shape with her mouth in the hopes of getting even a butchered word out.

Eventually she managed to croak out a soft "Hey" and the woman leaning against the wall looked at her in shock.

She moved away from the wall deftly, her footfalls not even registering in Lucy's hearing as she tiptoed over the bodies of the other girls. She approached Lucy, her expression contorted in a mixture of shock and pity. Pushing her long blue hair behind her ear, she bent down beside Lucy, her breath warm on her face.

"Can you speak?" The woman whispered, keeping her mouth close to Lucy's face so as not to be overheard. She looked at Lucy with desperate eyes, searching Lucy's face for answers to unasked questions.

"Ye..s," the word took awhile to form, Lucy not even sure if she was telling the truth. This was the first time she had spoken since this morning, and her mouth felt heavy and useless when she tried to move it.

"Do you know your name?" The woman asked, waiting patiently for the answer.

"Lu...cy," saying the name gave Lucy a sense of power. A connection to an identity she had lost in the haze of drugs, but was soon to find again. If she was able to say her name, then she had hope that she would remember everything about her past.

"Lucy, I'm Juvia," the woman, Juvia, spoke slowly so Lucy was able to understand, though her eyes were filled with a strong sense of urgency. "You need to listen to me very carefully, okay? Blink once if you understand."

Lucy's eyelids were heavy, and the movement was sluggish, but it was easier to accomplish than to form a word.

"Good, Lucy, that's very good," Juvia's voice grew soft, her tone adopting a more comforting sound. "You're on a ship right now, heading for another country to be sold off to slavery. I'm going to do my best to help you and all the other girls get out of here, but I need your help. Blink once if you understand."

Trying it the second time made it slightly easier, her eyelids not sticking together too roughly when she peeled them apart this time.

"Good. Okay. Lucy, at some point there is going to be a man coming through that door to check on everyone and give the lucid girls drugs, and that means you too," Juvia gently brushed hair out of Lucy's face, her touch soft and warm, and the kindest she'd felt in a long time. "I promise you I will do everything in my power so that they never touch you, but I need you to work as hard as you possibly can to try to regain movement in your limbs. Blink once if you understand."

Lucy blinked, though she was unsure if the feeling in her limbs would return at the exact moment Juvia needed them to.

"Good, Lucy, that's good. It's going to be tough, but I need you to really focus okay? If you're strong enough to be able to talk, even just a bit, I have faith you can do this," Juvia smiled slightly, the warmth not meeting her eyes. "When that man comes, I want you to try your best to get him to lower his guard. You don't even need to speak, just try pulling down your top or something-and I swear to god he won't touch you, but I need to catch him off guard to be able to take his weapon, okay? Blink once if you understand."

Lucy blinked, the movement not sluggish or hesitant, but clear and aggressive. Juvia smiled again, and this time there was fire in her eyes. Lucy wasn't positive this plan would work, but the only person she could place her trust in was this woman for the moment, and if it meant that she would be able to be free, she'd do just about anything.

"I'm going to move you, okay?" Juvia nodded quickly, her voice picking up speed slightly as the urgency in her tone increased. "I'm going to place you so you're directly in front of the door, so you're the first one he sees, okay? I'll try my best not to hurt you."

Lucy blinked again.

Without another word, Juvia stood up to her full height. She walked around to the other side of Lucy, placing her hands underneath Lucy's armpits and pulling her body across the floor to the back wall. Pain flared up in Lucy's body, an agonizing flash that made her want to scream. She was weak from hunger, and being battered around by Bora and his men had become one of their favourite past times, and so with new and old wounds being jostled and the drugs wearing off Lucy was in agony. She welcomed the pain, channeling it into her hatred and using it as fuel to focus on getting her body moving on its own.

Juvia propped her gently up against the wall, her body sagging slightly against the blue paint. Juvia placed Lucy's hands in her lap, squeezing her fingers gently. Lucy did her best to squeeze back, the action weak but there. Juvia smiled at her again, nodding a silent encouragement.

"Wh..o...re..?" Lucy breathed out, trying to make the word sound like a question, desperately hoping Juvia would understand what she meant by that.

Lucy didn't remember much from the time she was in Bora's house, but she had seen all the other girls in the room there at least once. She had no idea who Juvia was or where she came from, and even though she was gorgeous and would have made a good prostitute had Bora made her one, she just couldn't shake the fact that Juvia didn't seem to fit the part. She also didn't seem to be affected by the drugs, which was strange in it's own right.

"No," Juvia shook her head, squeezing Lucy's hands once more. "I'm an undercover agent. I promise you, Lucy, I'm going to get you out of here and somewhere safe. Just be patient, okay?"

Lucy blinked again, and Juvia nodded once more before tiptoeing back over to the door. She crouched on the side that the door opened, readying herself for when someone inevitably entered the room. She looked at Lucy again, her expression schooled into a serious one. Juvia blinked at Lucy, and Lucy blinked back.

 _10...9...8…_ Lucy felt the fingers on her left hand twitch.

* * *

 **A/n: thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review with your thoughts on the first chapter I'd really appreciate it! I know this chapter is a little vague, but I promise all questions would be answered as time goes on. Also, in case anyone is curious, no I will not be writing Juvia in third person.**


	2. Crescendo

**Content warning: this chapter deals with explicit mentions of violence.**

Hours passed as Gray followed Bora's ship in the inky black waters of the open sea. The town of Hargeon was a small twinkle of light behind them, the stretch of water the only thing they could really see for miles. Gray kept his distance until he felt the time was right, leaving enough distance between their ships and any possible land to cut out the potential sound of their gunshots being carried over the waves. He shut off the engine, letting their ship cruise silently over to Bora's in the cover of the night.

"Natsu, get ready, we're heading in," Gray said as exited the interior of the ship once more, walking across the boats' deck towards a coil of rope that had a grappling hook attached to it. It was going to be difficult in the pitch blackness to attach their ships together without being noticed, but if he timed it just right he might be able to catch them off guard.

Back in the inside of the ship, Natsu felt a grin pull up the corners of his mouth. His stomach was rolling in agony, his mouth salivating as he warred with himself to not throw up. Reaching towards a pill bottle left out on the table, he turned the cap and shook out several pills before popping them into his mouth and swallowing them. He took four times the recommended dosage, a stupid and dangerous decision, but necessary for tonight's mission. He knew if old lady Porlyusica found out he pulled a stunt like that she'd have his head, but lucky for him she wasn't there to baby him.

Slowly, the pain in his stomach dissolved as the pills started to take effect. He rose to his feet, his legs no longer shaking even while their boat rocked through the choppy waters. Cracking his neck and knuckles, Natsu double checked he had all his weapons on him before joining his partner on the exterior of the ship. He could barely hear the sound of the waves crashing against their boat over the sound sound of his blood pumping in his ears. Adrenaline coursed through his body, his strength returning to him tenfold.

Gray glanced up as Natsu exited the ship, pulling a face at his partner. "How many did you take this time?"

Natsu shrugged, his grin never wavering. "Too many to count."

Gray sighed, shaking his head. "You've gotta stop overdosing man, you're going to wind up dead one day."

"I'm fine," Natsu argued, walking over towards Gray and reaching down to grab another coil of rope with a hook attached at the tip. "It's those girls we need to worry about, so I need to be in tip top shape tonight."

Gray sighed again but bit back an answer. He knew Natsu was endangering his life, but there was nothing he could do to stop him. If he wanted to get Natsu in trouble he could snitch to Doctor Porlyusica, but she'd just chew him out for not stopping Natsu himself.

Their boat cut through the water silently, aiming straight for Bora's ship. When they were close enough, Natsu and Gray nodded to each other and swung the grappling hooks high above their heads before releasing them and hooking them on the railing surrounding Bora's ship. Gray grabbed another one and rushed to the back of the ship, throwing it and pulling with all his strength so that their ship was able to curve and hit the side of Bora's ship with their side, instead of hitting them straight on. They wouldn't be able to make it back to shore, especially not with all of those girls, if both ships were damaged.

When their ship pulled up next to Bora's, they ended up hitting each other and caused both boats to rock. Natsu took the opportunity to jump ship immediately, pulling out a concealed knife and heading straight for the bodyguards that were stationed on the outside of the ship. Gray let him go, running back to the front of his ship and dropping the anchor before jumping from the side of his ship onto Bora's.

They had the upper hand for the moment, but it was obvious they were attacking. Gray didn't think Bora had a plan for moments like these, but he definitely had enough time to squirrel himself away in the bottom of the ship with a small army of armed bodyguards to protect him. None of those poor bastards stood a chance against Natsu, but it wasn't like they knew that.

Gray pulled a gun from one of the holsters in his chest, clicking off the safety and cocking the gun. He glanced around quickly, assessing the situation on the top of the ship. He knew he had to make it down to the lower level and locate the girls and make sure they were safe, but he would prefer to be able to do that with Natsu tagging along to distract the guards. As he canvassed the area, he counted four bodyguards all shooting at Natsu, who danced out of the way of their bullets with a cocky laugh.

Gray took aim and shot down two of the bodyguards, bullets cleanly lodging in their chests. They fell to the ground with muffled groans, Gray smirking at his handiwork. Behind him, the other two bodyguards let out agonized screams as Natsu cut them down.

"They couldn't have spent any more money on someone stronger?" Natsu complained, wiping the blood from his blades on his black shirt. "There's not even a Twilight here. How boring."

"Just count your blessings that we can get out of here quickly," Gray said, walking over to the ships anchor and dropping it into the ocean with a heavy splash.

He moved deftly towards the door that led to the lower level, crouching beside the side that opened and placed a hand on the handle. He jerked his head at Natsu, silently telling him to move forward. His partner rolled his eyes, shuffling to stand in front of the door, ready for any possible attacks as Gray opened it for him.

The heavy metal door pulled away from it's frame, and Natsu came face to face with three men pointing guns at him. He grinned again, jumping out of the way of their bullets as they all fired blindly at him from the entryway. As he moved, he threw his two blades at the heads of the two closest bodyguards. The drop point blades sunk deep in their skulls, and their gunfire ceased immediately as their bodies sank to the floor.

Natsu pulled another blade from a sheath attached to his thigh, the handle heavy in his hand. He welcomed the feeling, excitement bubbling within him as he darted back in front of the door and ran towards it. The final gunman was still shooting, though more recklessly this time as his eyes were wide in fear. Natsu darted out of the way, a single bullet grazing his arm in the process. He ran off to the left of the doorway, jumping on his right foot and bouncing off the wall with his left foot, flying over the mans head while he swung his blade down, sinking it deep in his neck.

When Gray was sure everyone was dead, he stood to his full height and walked around to the other side of the door. He watched as Natsu removed two of his knives from the skulls of two men, wincing at the sound they made as they were pulled. Natsu seemed to be unfazed, wiping all three of his blades clean on the shirt of one of the bodies lying at his feet.

"We should split up here," Gray said, staring down the expanse of the ships hallway. "I'm gonna look for those girls, you look for Bora."

"Sounds like a plan," Natsu said, standing to his full height, gripping two of his blades loosely in his hands. "Try not to get killed, I guess."

"You too," Gray snorted, knowing saying that was useless.

Natsu grinned in response, turning to walk down the hallway, footfalls almost silent against the carpet.

* * *

The sound of gunshots registered in Lucy's hearing, the popping followed by surprised and horrified screams. Her shoulders tense against the wall of the room she was propped up against, she turned to look at Juvia, who did not look surprised. Lucy wondered if this was all planned, and somehow someway she really was going to be able to get off of this ship and go home.

She had worked hard to regain feeling in her limbs again, having full control over her hands and arms back after a few short hours. She was working diligently on her legs, starting from her toes upwards. She wasn't sure if she was going to be able to walk for another while, but each time she curled her toes her confidence grew stronger.

Juvia remained silently poised against the wall, tense and ready to spring into action whenever the door inevitably opened. They hadn't spoken in hours, often just glancing at each other and blinking at one another, a silent mutual understanding between them. Lucy had hundreds of questions for Juvia, but she knew they were all going to have to wait until they were off of the ship and safe.

There was a moment of silence as the gunfire ceased. Lucy tensed against the wall, unsure if that meant Bora's men were dead, or the ones who had attacked the ship were. She glanced at Juvia, who was staring at the door, a concerned look on her face.

When the gunfire picked up again, Juvia relaxed slightly. Lucy took that as a good sign, but didn't lower her guard. She had no idea who was attacking the ship, nor did she think that she could place her faith in them. For all she knew they could be pirates, and Lucy still would end up being sold by someone other than Bora. She tried to keep her thoughts positive, but after everything she's been through she couldn't help but be distrustful of people.

The newest round of gunfire only lasted a few short seconds before the silence returned. Lucy began counting backwards again in her head, finding the rhythmic numbness of the numbers relaxing her and steadying her breath. Her mind was still slightly cloudy, but she found her thoughts starting to form more clearly as she focused on a singular part of her body to try and get moving again. She curled her toes easily now, and spent time trying to roll her ankles while she lay in wait.

In the silence, she heard multiple doors opening. One across the hall, and one in the room to the right of theirs. The door across the hall closed almost immediately after it was opened, and gunshots rang out again.

Lucy waited silently, glancing at Juvia, who blinked at her. A moment later the handle to the door to their room turned.

* * *

Natsu had decided to take the doors on the right hand side of the hallway, leaving Gray behind to fend for himself. The adrenaline was still coursing through his body, and Natsu felt his heart beating heavily against his rib cage. The weight of the blades in his hands felt euphoric, like he was holding drugs instead of weapons. Each slice he made with them, cutting into flesh like it was paper, fuelled an insatiable lust for blood.

He stopped in front of a metal door, rusted peeling paint curling at the edges. He lifted his hand to his mouth and placed the handle of one of his blades between his teeth, biting down roughly on the leather. He then took his free hand and placed it on the handle to the door, turning it and tensing his body for any impending attacks.

The room that was revealed was small, with three armed men lying in wait. One was hidden behind an upturned table, the other two taking half-cover by a worn couch and lamp table respectively. They all had guns pointed in his direction, two pistols and a shotgun. Natsu knew the shotgun posed the biggest threat, and with a grin he stepped forward toward the wielder.

Gunshots sounded immediately, filling the room with the smell of gunpowder and the walls full of holes. Natsu did his best to jump out of the way, however a bullet nicked his waist, cutting through his shirt and drawing a line of blood down his skin. The pain never came, however, as his pain tolerance had disappeared when the drugs from Porlyusica took effect. A dangerous, albeit convenient side effect of overdosing.

He lunged at the man holding the shotgun, raising his blades high above his head as he neared. The mans body began to shake in fear as he pointed the shotgun at Natsu, closing his eyes as he pulled the trigger, the explosive sound deafening the room. He missed, having angled the gun just a hairsbreadth away from where Natsu had jumped, the bullets ricocheting off of the ceiling.

Natsu swung his blades down, the edges cutting smoothly through the skin of the mans neck. With a bit of force they cut right through, his head detaching from the spinal cord and falling in a lump onto the floor. A huge spray of blood erupted from the mans neck, coating Natsu's face in the ruby coloured liquid.

He turned towards the man hiding behind the table, reaching up slowly to brush some of the blood from his eyes. He smiled slowly, like a hungry wolf eyeing its' wounded prey. The man let out a squeal, aiming his gun at Natsu and shooting.

The first door Gray checked lead to an empty room, dimly lit with a card table set up and half empty bottles of beer standing wasted atop it. He assumed this was the room that the first group of men came from, the beer bottles still sweating with fresh condensation. He peered around, double checking no one else was in the room before closing the door and moving on.

He passed the room Natsu had gone into, the metal door closed tightly but only muffling the sound of gunfire. Gray sighed, readying his gun as he walked to the next room on his side of the hallway. He knew the girls were somewhere on the ship, but he had a fifty/fifty shot of opening the door and getting a gun pointed at him. He breathed in, steadying himself, reaching for the door handle and turning it slowly.

It was locked.

He sighed, returning his guns to their holsters after checking that the hallway was clear. Reaching into the pocket of his pants, he pulled out a small lock picking kit. It was slightly worn with age, the innumerable amount of times he put them to good use showing. Deftly, he fidgeted with the tools in the lock, pressing down on the tumblers delicately. When they were all down, the the handle announced it was unlocked with a simple click, and he return the tools back into their packaging and returned it to his pocket, reaching for his gun again.

He pushed open the door with his shoulder, pointing his gun in first before edging in. The first thing he saw was a bunch of women dressed in dirtied, tight-fitting clothes all laying around each other on the ground. Most looked to be asleep, and one or two had a glossy stare pointed up at the ceiling. Disgust swelled within him, his eyes widening as he took in the obvious signs of drug abuse.

Leaning up against a wall, hand pulling at the top of her tube-top, was a blonde girl who looked to be in and around his age. She smiled weakly, batting her doe-brown eyes at him as she fingered the hem of her top suggestively. He sighed in relief, lowering his gun slightly as he started to walk towards her.

"Hey, sweetheart, can you understand me?" He spoke slowly, his voice gentle despite how on edge he was.

"Oh I can hear you, handsome," she winked, her voice hoarse and rough as she spoke, fingers still playing with the material of her shirt.

"No-no you don't have to do that," he lowered the gun to his side, holding a hand up to stop her. He crouched in front of her, trying to inspect her face. "I'm not here to hurt you."

It was that exact moment that Gray realized that he only counted seven women upon entering the room, even though he knew he saw exactly eight women be brought aboard the ship. When he moved to spin around quickly, grabbing his gun and lifting it, a well aimed kick connected with his temple. He fell to the side, accidentally firing his gun as he was pushed back, a stray bullet connecting with the ceiling.

* * *

Lucy wanted to scream. She felt the sound bubble up in her throat, threatening to push its way out, but the sound never came. She watched in wide eyed horror as Juvia kicked the man that had entered the room in the temple, and he fell to the side, his gun going off and shooting the ceiling. Dust from the ceiling fell around her, coating her miniskirt in a white chalk like substance.

"Holy shit," she croaked out, the last of her brain fog disappearing in the silence.

"Stay back, Lucy," Juvia ordered, walking over to the man hesitantly and leaning down to grab his gun.

The man groaned, rolling onto his back and reaching up to place a hand against his temple. Lucy had no doubt in her mind that his vision was shaky and his sense of balance was royally fucked up. To have a grown man of his size get knocked over as hard as he did, Lucy could only assume how powerful Juvia must have been to be able to mess him up that badly.

"Fuck...me…" the man groaned out, blinking rapidly to get his sense of self back.

Juvia wasted no time, jumping atop him and straddling his chest. She kept one hand tightly on his neck to cut off his air supply, and used the other to punch his nose. His head snapped back at the force of the hit, the back of his skull connecting with the ground with a sickening crack. His fingers slackened on the grip of his gun, and Juvia used her free hand to wrestle it from him.

The man bucked wildly, grasping at the hand at his throat uselessly as his air supply was cut off. Juvia raised the gun above her hand, cocking it so it was pointing at the ceiling before attempting to thrust it down and hit him in the face with the butt of the handle. It was difficult for her, as his hips thrashed around vehemently, her tiny frame being jostled with each movement.

Her grasp on his throat must have slacked, and the man used all of his force to roll Juvia over so he was on top of her, and her back was to the floor. He grabbed at her hand around his throat and pulled it off, her nails raking his skin and drawing thin lines of blood as he ripped them away. He grunted in pain, forcing her wrist above her head and reaching for the other one.

When he had her pinned down he began to cough, the redness slowly subsiding from his face as the air returned to his lungs. Juvia squirmed under him, kicking his back repeatedly with the heels of her feet. Lucy saw him wince at the pain, his chest being forced closer and closer to Juvia's with every hit.

"Fuck! Stop!" He finally choked out, squeezing her hips with his thighs. "I'm not with _them_ god dammit. Jellal sent me here! Stop fucking kicking me!"

Juvia stopped immediately, the one leg that was poised in the air dropped to the ground in an instant. The two of them glared at each other, Juvia reading his expression trying to gauge whether he was lying or not. Lucy had no idea who this Jellal person was, but she assumed he worked with Juvia, and that this was a good sign.

"Jellal did?" Juvia said quietly, tone hopeful but guarded. "He said he was sending men from my team, I don't know you. Who are you?"

"My name is Gray," the man, Gray, said, his voice gentler than it was before. "Jellal hired me and my partner to come here. I don't know why he didn't send members of your team, or whatever, but I'm sure he'll explain everything tomorrow. If you want to live and get these girls out of here safely, you're going to have to trust me, deal?"

"How can I trust someone I don't know," Juvia spat, wrenching the hand that was holding the gun free and pointing it directly at his face. Gray was so close that his breath bounced off of the tip of the gun, his eyes wide and alarmed.

"Fine, don't trust me," Gray relaxed, releasing her other wrist and slowly pulling away from her so he was in a seated position above her. He raised his hands up slowly, palms open and outward so that she knew he wasn't going to try anything. "But just so you know, there's a Twilight in the room across from here and if you kill me-well, let's just say you won't be getting back to Jellal in one piece."

"You think I can't handle one little Twilight?" Juvia scoffed, aiming down the barrel defiantly. "Also-that door was locked, how did you get in without a key? Lying to me isn't going to make me want to shoot you any less."

Juvia's confident comment forced a surprised look onto Grays face, but it was quickly replaced with a cocky grin. "I'm good with my hands," he said, wiggling his fingers suggestively and winking.

Before Juvia could reply, one of Bora's men came running into the room, a gun drawn. Lucy let out a scream, the words to warn them not coming fast enough. Gray reached for another of his guns that were in holsters hanging off his chest, but his reaction time was too slow. Juvia shifted the gun's aim from Gray to the new man and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

She got him right between the eyes with impeccable accuracy, his body dropping to the ground in a slump.

"Jesus christ," Lucy breathed out, watching with horrified eyes as blood pooled around the mans head, the viscous liquid seeping into the carpet.

"Nice shot," Gray said, sounding impressed as he looked over the body.

Juvia pointed the gun at him again, and his face contorted into an annoyed expression. He raised his hands halfheartedly, staring at her down the barrel.

"I don't trust you," Juvia said, levelling her voice. "But you seem to know what you're doing, and if you know Jellal by name that is either a very good or very bad sign. But I'm willing to wait to find out until after these girls are safe."

Gray released the breath he was holding, lowering his hands. "Does this mean I can have my gun back?"

"No," Juvia didn't lower the weapon. "It does mean you can get off of me now though."

He hesitated, looking like he wanted to say more, before ultimately forgetting about it and climbing off of her. Juvia pulled herself up onto her legs when she was freed, lowering the gun to a more relaxed position by her hips. They waited in silence for a moment, listening for any sign of footsteps approaching.

"Lucy," Juvia said, keeping her eyes on Gray wearily. "Can you stand yet?"

"I'm not sure," Lucy admitted weakly, curling her toes and flexing the muscles in her calves. "I haven't tried yet."

"Our boat is attached to this one," Gray spoke up, pulling a clip from a strap on his chest and handed it to Juvia. "You can take her there while Natsu and I finish up here. I'll watch your back."

Juvia eyed him up and down silently, mulling over his words in her head. He shook the clip impatiently, nudging with his chin at her gun. She hesitated, biting down on her lower lip for a moment before reaching out and snatching the clip from his hand.

"How do I know there's no one outside?" She asked, placing the clip in the lining of her bra between her breasts, her lack of pockets an obvious problem.

"You don't," Gray shrugged, pulling another gun from his holster and double checking that it was loaded before switching off the safety. "This is one of those moments where you're going to have to trust me."

"What about the other girls?" Juvia nodded her chin towards the ground where the six other girls lay, most unconscious but a few in semi-conscious wake.

"You can come back for them one at a time, or you can all wait here with one gun while Natsu and I finish up," Gray said, taking a step back to peek out the door, his gun held steadily in his hand as he looked for possible attackers. "I don't particularly care what you do but I need to know so I can build a plan around it."

"I'll stay," Juvia decided after a split second hesitation, releasing the gun clip in her gun to count how many bullets she had left. "I'd rather not leave these girls alone until they're all home safe."

"Alright, fair enough," Gray nodded, stepping deftly towards the door, raising his gun to rest near his head. "I'll be back soon."

He never managed to leave, however, as three men came rushing at him from the hallway.

* * *

Natsu stood in a room coated in blood. The blades held loosely in his hands were pointed at the floor, beads of crimson dripping off the tips and falling onto the carpet. He glanced around at his handiwork, thinking absently that he may have beat his personal best in terms of timing.

He heard bullets go off in the room across the hall and he grinned, hoping Gray was having as much fun as he was.

He walked over to the couch, the cushion closest to the door was one of the few things not coated in blood. He wiped his blades against the material, his grin deepening as he caught his reflection. He looked like shit, with blood covering his face and his hair sticking to his forehead in sweat. He loved every second of his job.

He opened the door just in time to see three men rush towards his partner, who was standing in the doorway to a room across the hall. Natsu watched them go, blinking in surprise as they all has their guns raised. The trio screamed in unison, like warriors trying to scare off an enemy. It didn't do anything to phase Gray, not that much did in terms of his partner.

Gray jumped back a step to gain some distance and shot twice at the first man. The bullets connected once in his chest and once in his head, the man toppling over where he once stood. The other two continued forward, the first one pulling the trigger on his gun.

Gray had enough time to move and dodge, but he only shifted his body to the side and took a bullet to his shoulder. A disembodied scream sounded out from inside the room, distinctly female. Gray grunted, lifting his free hand to hold the bullet wound as blood seeped through his fingers.

Natsu reached out and grabbed the third attacker by the collar of his shirt. He threw the man up against the wall of the hallway and buried one of his blades in his skull, leaving him looking like he was still standing up against the wall as he started for the remaining man. Anger burned deep inside him, the thought of his partner getting hurt forcing him into a blind rage. If anyone was going to hurt Gray, that self sacrificial idiot, it was going to be him.

Natsu threw his blade quickly, the long knife burying deeply in the mans back. He fell to his knees with a scream, fumbling for his gun. Before Natsu could finish the job, a bullet connected with the mans temple, blood and bits of brain and shards of skull exploded out the other side and splattering against the floor.

He growled lowly, the anger replaced by annoyance and disappointment. He was still riding the high from the drugs Porlyusica gave him, and he knew they heightened his emotions. Mentally speaking he was probably unstable from the overdose, but he was able to fight on a boat without getting sick, so he didn't care. He felt _amazing_.

"I know they shot you," Natsu said to Gray, sounding irritated as he pulled the knife from the dead mans back. "But that one was mine."

Gray scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I'm not the one who shot him, idiot."

Natsu blinked in confusion, stepping towards the door and peeking in. Standing towards the back was a girl with long blue hair, dressed like all the other girls lying on the floor, in something short, tight and promiscuous. In her hand was a gun, and she pointed it at him with a glare.

"I've known plenty of prostitutes who could shoot, but none as good as you, lady," he grinned at her, sounding impressed.

"And you probably never will," she remarked, eyeing him down the barrel and inhaling slowly.

"Was that a threat?" He quirked a brow, tensing in case he needed to jump out of the way of a bullet.

"No," Gray interrupted sharply, removing his hand from his bleeding shoulder and taking the gun from the other to put the safety back on and slip it back into its holster. "That doesn't matter right now, anyway. Where's Bora?"

"Who now?" Natsu blinked at him owlishly.

"Their boss, Bora!" Gray snapped at him, reaching up to put pressure on his shoulder. Natsu caught him wince, though it was almost imperceptible. "That ugly mother fucker with the blue hair and tattoo. He can't get away I want to talk to him before you kill him."

"Why would you-" his question was cut off as the sound of rushing feet slapped against the floor of the boat, heading towards him.

Natsu barely reacted in time to put up his arms to protect his face as one of the biggest men he had ever seen slammed his body into his. Natsu flew back in surprise, sliding against the carpet and losing his footing, falling onto his back. The man rushed forward, his breathing angry and in huffs as he panted out of his mouth. Vaguely, he reminded Natsu of a gorilla.

The man charged forward, thick, shiny brass knuckles glinting in the light as he raised a massive fist in the air, preparing to slam it into Natsu's skull. Natsu craned his neck away just in time, swiping up with his blade and catching it just across the mans nose. He howled, and reared his head back in pain. As he did, a necklace fell away from under his shirt, and Natsu caught sight of dog tags hanging off the end of it.

A wicked grin pulled at the corners of his mouth, excitement bubbling within him. He had been dying all night to fight a Twilight, and by the look of it this one was ranked pretty high.

This was going to be _fun_.

* * *

 **A/n : hello everyone! Thanks for sticking around for another chapter of crossfire ! This chapter gave me a bit of trouble in certain areas, but overall it was fun to write. If any of y'all are interest, I listened to ballroom blitz by sweet while writing this chapter, and it was a lot more fun imo.**

 **I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who faved/followed this story! Y'all are awesome! As well as a very _special_ thank you to those who reviewed, it really means a lot to me that you would take the time to do that! Your words have been so kind and positive, I was able to write two extra chapters just from the motivation ! Thank you!**

 **also, just to note, Gray and Juvia are 27 in this story, Natsu 26 and Lucy 25. They are obviously much more older than their canon counterparts, so I'm trying to write them reacting to things differently/more mature than they necessarily might in canon. However, I will do my best to keep the heart of the character true, and I look forward to playing around with them!**

 **If any of y'all are curious, I happen to have a tumblr under the same name as my ff account! If you wanna follow me, feel free! I love to talk, especially about ft!**

 **Anyway, this was super long, sorry. Thank you for reading, please review and I'll see y'all next week! Have a good week guys!**


	3. No Control

**Content warning: this chapter deals with graphic depictions of violence.**

* * *

"Natsu!" Gray called after his friend, catching the sight of him being pushed back by a man three times his size.

Gray gripped onto his wounded shoulder tightly, blood slipping between the cracks in his fingers and soaking the dark fabric of his shirt. Pain wracked his body, his breaths turning into shudders as the pain made him dizzy. He took a step to chase after Natsu, stumbling in surprise as his vision started to darken. He was losing more blood than he had expected, and it was worrying him.

" _Fuck_ ," he cursed under his breath, stars dotting his vision.

"Do you know how many are left?" Juvia asked from several feet away, releasing the empty clip in her gun and reloading it with the new one he had given her. She crossed the distance between them deftly, aiming her gun at the door in preparation.

"Just the one fighting Natsu, and then Bora, the leader," Gray answered, taking a step back to lean against the wall and inhaling deeply.

"How's your shoulder?" she asked quietly, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Fine," he hissed the word out, his fingers gripping his shoulder starting to shake.

"Do you think your partner can handle this on his own?" Juvia asked, lowering her gun and looking at him in concern.

Gray scoffed. "Probably."

"Then sit on the ground," she turned around and walked over to him, switching the safety on her gun on.

"What?" He stared at her incredulously, glancing between her and the door. "Look lady, I'm fine, go find Bora."

"Where is he going to go?" She gestured around the room, quirking a brow. "Is he going to swim to Bosco? Now sit down so I can help stop the bleeding."

"Five minutes ago you were threatening to put a bullet in my head, what's with the change of heart?" He eyed her wearily, but nevertheless slumped to the ground.

"You could have dodged that bullet, but you didn't," Juvia murmured quietly as she crouched beside him, setting her gun down beside them and reaching to unclip the holsters hanging off his chest. "And by doing so you saved someone's life. I may not know you but...for the moment I won't feel right letting you die here."

He snorted, a small grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. "I won't die from getting shot in the shoulder."

"I never said you would," she glanced at him through her lashes and he found mirth in them, before she turned back to her work and her expression returned to something emotionless. "Lean forward a bit. This is going to hurt, just so you know."

He did as he was told, biting back a whine when she gently pulled the holster straps away from him. She dropped it next to them and worked on unbuttoning his shirt, pulling it off of him when he allowed her to. The shirt hurt more, his sleeves a real bitch to get out of without moving too much. She apologized under her breath while she worked, but overall they remained silent while she tied his shirt around his shoulder tightly to momentarily stop the bleeding.

"Thank you," he said quietly, feeling exhausted from the blood loss.

"You're welcome," she nodded at him before turning to look at Lucy, who was leaning against the wall and watching them with wide eyes. "Lucy, I need to go find Bora. I'm going to leave you a gun, and I need you to shoot anyone who comes through that door who isn't me or that pink haired Twilight, understand?"

"You've gotta be joking!" Gray stared at Juvia with wide eyes. "If anyone's using a gun in this room, it's gonna be me."

"You look like you can barely keep your eyes open," Juvia pursed her lips at him, reaching for the gun she had put down, "There's no guarantee she'll even need to use it, it's just a safety precaution."

"I'm not letting a girl who spent most of the day on drugs handle a gun, it's not safe," Gray said, shaking his head.

"What happens if I come in here and you're passed out and those girls end up dead?" Juvia glared at him, eyes cold.

"That's not going to happen," he stared her down, refusing to give in. "I won't let anything happen to them, but I'm also not going to trust some random girl who's been through enough to have to make the choice to kill someone."

She backed down at that one, glancing at Lucy apologetically before turning back to him. "Don't fall asleep," she said, standing and heading for the door.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he called after her, swearing he caught her roll her eyes before exiting the room and heading down the opposite side of the hallway that Natsu was pushed down.

Gray reached with his good hand for a gun in the holster beside him, switching off the safety and holding it poised in his lap. He wasn't as good of a shot with his left hand, and he was definitely at a disadvantage from blood loss, but that wasn't going to be his downfall today. After seeing all the girls lying in the room before him, and knowing to even a small extent as to what they had been through, it had now become personal for him to make sure they got out of there alive.

"What's a Twilight?" Lucy asked, glancing at him from where she sat against the wall, her skin looking paler than when he had first entered the room. He guessed the shock from seeing three people get murdered in front of her was finally starting to sink in, and his stomach twisted.

"They're...humans," he sighed out, finding the words to explain somewhat hard. It wasn't very often he met someone who didn't know what a Twilight was. "Children of people who were medically tested on. They're just like you and me, but faster, stronger and generally more intimidating. Not many exist, any more anyway."

He didn't think he could put into words what had happened in Fiore over twenty years ago when Twilights first came to be. They were considered monsters, products of illegal experiments for the government. Super soldiers born to fight during the last war, though ultimately most of them had been killed off in battle. Now any Twilight who still existed was almost a slave to those who would hire them, their need for a rare drug to survive the only thing justifying their actions. It wasn't a story he liked to tell.

"Thank you," Lucy said quietly after a long moment of silence, glancing at him with tear filled eyes. "For taking that bullet. It would have hit me if you didn't. So thank you."

He looked her up and down for a moment, her pale skin bruised in multiple areas from beatings and who knows what else. She looked thinner than average, and he had to guess she wasn't eating much. She had bags under her eyes, and if he looked hard enough he could notice the bruises on the inside of her elbows, where he had no doubt needles had entered. She had been through more than what anyone deserved, and if there was even a slight chance she had a family to go home to at the end of this, he was going to make sure it was going to happen.

"Don't worry about it," he shifted his eyes back to the door. "I'm sure lots of other people would have done the same."

"No," Lucy said quietly, her tone matter of fact. "They wouldn't have."

He winced, though not from pain.

* * *

Natsu swiped again at the man who was straddling his chest, aiming for his thick neck this time. The gorilla man pulled back just in time, pulling one of his arms back and hitting Natsu's forearm with his brass knuckled fist. Natsu thought for a moment he heard something snap, but with the drugs taking away any effect of pain he was in the clear for the time being. The potential of broken bones was his future self's problem.

He wiggled underneath the brute, trying to pull himself free while simultaneously trying to stab the man with his blade. He caught him in the shoulder, and took the momentary distraction to squirm his way away. He wrenched his blade out of the mans shoulder, relishing in the way he screamed with pain, and scrambled quickly to get to his feet.

"Hey, big guy," Natsu called to his opponent, grinning. "What rank are you?"

"I'm a B/2, you snarky son of a bitch," the man snapped, rising to his full height and towering over Natsu.

"That's too bad, I always hate killing higher ranks who have the potential to be more useful," Natsu shrugged, reaching up with his free hand to pull his own dog tags out from beneath his shirt, flipping them over so the man could read his rank. "Although I guess trash like you who protect scumbags like that Boris guy don't really deserve second chances."

"You know just as well as I do that Twilights are a dying breed and finding a job is damn near impossible in this corrupted world," the man shook his head, reaching up to swipe some blood away from his face. "Doesn't mean I like what I do."

"Yeah, justify that to all the other girls who were sold off under your watch," Natsu snapped, pushing off one of his feet and darting towards the man.

He lashed out with his blade, aiming for between the ribs. The man didn't have time to jump away, especially in such a small space, so he brought both his arms up to block the attack. Natsu's blade stuck in one of the mans forearms, and before he could pull it out the man reached up and connected his foot with Natsu's rib cage and pushed him back.

The force of the kick was just enough to knock him out of the hallway completely, sending Natsu tumbling back onto the deck of the ship. The man didn't waste any time chasing after Natsu, his heavy frame coming barreling out of the hallway after him as he charged. He raised a fist in the air, plunging down towards Natsu to try and smash his face in.

Natsu was winded from the kick, barely moving away in time for the punch to connect with the deck of the ship instead of his nose. The wood beside his head cracked, and the mans arm fell through slightly into the floor of the ship. Natsu used this to his advantage and twisted away from the man and kicked his elbow with all his might. It wasn't enough to break his arm, but the man was forced to his knees from surprise and Natsu scrambled to his feet and managed to kick the man in the temple.

He distanced himself from the man then, taking heavy breaths. He reached down to his boots and pulled two spare knives from sheaths hidden in the lining of his shoes, the blades smaller than what he had been using before but hopefully enough to get the job done. He darted behind the man, reaching up with both fists and slamming his blades down into either side of the mans shoulders.

The man howled in both pain and rage, pulling his arm from the deck with a scream and wheeling around, lashing out with his hands to try and grab Natsu. Natsu jumped away deftly, evading the mans meaty hands with a breathless laugh. He quickly pulled another knife from a sheath hanging off his thigh and swiped out, catching the inside of the mans forearm and burying the blade deep.

He didn't pull away fast enough, and the man caught Natsu by the arm, tossing him like a flea into the railing running around the edge of the ship. His spine connected with the rusted metal, and he felt the air escape his lungs once again. The man charged at him, hitting him with all his body weight and stunning Natsu momentarily.

Natsu did his best to blink the stars out of his eyes, reaching blindly for the knife buried in the mans arm. He found purchase and yanked it free, the man howling again. Natsu raised his arm and drove the knife into one of the mans eyes, hearing the sickening squelch as the eye almost exploded under the force.

The man screamed again, reaching up blindly for the knife in his eye. Natsu pulled another knife from the sheath on his opposite leg, and drove it into the throat of the man, silencing his screams. Blood poured from the wound, soaking his hand in crimson as he drove the blade all the way through to the hilt. The man fell to his knees in front of Natsu, a gurgling sound bubbling up from beneath his lips.

Natsu pulled the knife from the mans eye and drove it through his skull, watching the life fade from his remaining eye. When the man collapsed in a heap on the ground, Natsu pulled all the blades free from their purchase in his skin, wiping them off on the mans shirt and replacing them in the sheaths. He leaned against the banister for a moment to catch his breath, breathing in the salty sea air.

When he felt fine enough, he stepped over the giant body and headed in the direction of the ship again. He had one last person on his hit list, and he wanted to make sure that bastard felt even 1/10th of the fury Natsu felt after realizing what that man had put those girls through. It was the kill he was definitely looking forward to the most.

Natsu stepped deftly over the bodies lying in the hallway, and poked his head into the room where he last saw Gray. He found his friend sitting on the ground, slouching against a wall. Gray pointed his gun at Natsu for a split second before dropping it back into his lap, letting out a sigh.

"You look like shit," Natsu grinned, stepping into the doorframe and leaning against it nonchalantly.

"Fuck you I always look amazing," Gray snapped, though he was too tired to put any real bite into it. "Juvia went to go find Bora, if you're interested in helping her with that."

" _Who_ -via?" Natsu squinted at his partner.

"J-" Gray started, looking like he wanted to yell it at Natsu before stopping and taking a breath. " _Juvia_. The girl with the blue hair. Was holding a gun. Ringing any bells?"

"Oh! The one with the good shot?" Natsu asked, nodding absently in thought when Gray nodded sharply once. "Never got around to introducing ourselves. Guess I should go change that."

"What happened to that big man?" A timid voice caught Natsu's attention, and he followed the sound to a blonde girl leaning up against the wall opposite him. She looked terrified and exhausted, not that he could have blamed her.

"I killed him," Natsu explained flippantly, fiddling with a knife in his hand.

"He was three times your size!" The girl blanched, staring at him incredulously.

He grinned, quirking a brow at her. "Don't believe me?"

"I never said that," she blinked at him, dropping the surprised expression. "Are you going to go find Bora now?"

"Yeah, he's the last one to… _dispatch_ of, before we can get out of here," Natsu glanced over his shoulder down the hall, where he caught sight of Juvia exiting a room he could only assume was empty and heading towards the very last one at the end of the hallway, where the big guy had come from. "Shouldn't take too long."

"I want to go," the girl said flatly, and he stared at her in surprise.

"Excuse me? Are the drugs they gave you still fucking with your brain?" He snorted at her, glancing at her up and down. "That's not going to be a pretty sight."

"I'm aware," she said coolly, watching him evenly. "I want to see it happen."

Natsu mulled over her answer, chewing on his lower lip while he thought it over.

"Absolutely not," Gray cut in, shaking his head firmly. "Lucy I understand you've been through a lot-"

"Do you?" The girl, Lucy, cut him off, turning to stare him down. "Because if you did you wouldn't try to stop me from watching the man who had kidnapped, drugged, raped, and profited off of me being raped get his brains blown out."

Natsu caught Gray wince.

"Now I just watched three people get murdered in front of me tonight," Lucy continued, shifting her cold gaze from Gray back to Natsu. "And I don't think a fourth is really going to make a difference. I want to see."

Natsu glanced at Gray, his eyebrows raised and a grin pulling at the edges of his mouth. "Well I'm convinced. Any other oppositions?"

Gray shot him a dirty look before turning back to Lucy, expression softening. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes," Lucy nodded firmly.

"Well, fuck, I can't stop you," Gray sighed. "Just be careful."

"I'll be fine," Lucy said quietly, before turning back to Natsu. "However, I can't walk quite yet. I need you to carry me."

He snorted, blinking at her in surprise. "You're joking, right?"

She remained silent.

He sighed and rubbed a hand through his hair, glancing back over his shoulders at the ajar door. He turned back to face Lucy, placing his knives in their sheaths and walking over to her, stepping over and around bodies of unconscious girls. He leaned down towards her, and she glared back up at him defiantly.

"Just don't back out once we get there, sweetheart," he grinned at her before leaning down and placing his arms under her legs and around her back. He lifted her with ease, jostling her in the air just slightly so he was able to gain a better grip. Her legs lolled uselessly in his arms, but she still managed to wrap her arms around his neck.

"Trust me, I've been dreaming about this day for awhile," she said it so quietly he almost couldn't hear her, and pity clawed at his stomach.

He exited the room without saying anything else, having to turn and walk sideways down the hallway so he was able to fit the both of them. He padded silently down the hallway, glancing down at her when they passed the man he had nailed to the wall, and caught her eyes widen. She looked like she was going to be sick, and he had to give her credit for sticking this out.

When they reached the door at the end of the hall, he used Lucy's foot to nudge open the door, and stood in the entryway as he took in what was happening.

Juvia stood in the middle of a brightly lit office, pointing her gun at Bora, who sat in a chair behind a desk. He had his hands up, and a gun sat untouched in front of him. Natsu wanted to laugh after seeing Bora's expression, the ugly blue haired piece of shit looking like he was about to wet his pants.

"I don't think this is going to be much of a show," Natsu grinned down at Lucy, angling her so she had a good view of Bora.

"What the hell is she doing here, you nut job?" Juvia snapped at him, keeping her eyes trained on Bora.

"She wanted to come," Natsu shrugged, jostling Lucy in the process.

"Get her out of here," Juvia demanded, knitting her eyebrows together as her shoulders tensed.

"I'm not leaving," Lucy spoke up, glaring holes at Bora. "I want to see him die. Actually, I want to kill him, but I don't know how."

"Lucy…," Juvia's voice softened. "Please. You should really leave."

Before Lucy could reply, Bora turned to her and started pleading. Tears streamed down his face, and he started sobbing. "Lucy! Lucy please- _please_ tell them I didn't do anything! We can go away, just the two of us! Somewhere nice. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"You piece of shit," Natsu snarled under his breath, fingers tightening around Lucy in anger, wishing he was holding his knives.

"Natsu," Lucy said quietly, staring emotionlessly at Bora. "Bring me closer."

"Don't," Juvia snapped. "Just get her out."

Natsu ignored Juvia and stepped forward so he was standing in front of the desk. It was silent for a moment, everyone tense as Bora and Lucy stared each other down. Before Natsu could expect it, Lucy leaned down in his arms and snatched the gun off the desk and pointed it at Bora, arms shaking.

"Lucy!" Juvia shouted, pulling her eyes away from Bora to stare at the girl in surprise. "Lucy please-don't. Don't become a killer, you can never come back from it. It changes you."

"I've already been changed!" Lucy snapped, and Natsu saw tears streaming down her face. The gun shook in her hands, her grip so tight her knuckles were turning white. "I'm not the same person I was when I first met Bora. I don't even remember who that was! I can never go back from what happened to me, and the only person who can pay for that is him!"

"Lucy!" Juvia shouted again before lowering her tone to something more even, although Natsu could tell she was starting to get frazzled. "Lucy, _please_ listen to me. I know he deserves it. Hell, I know he deserves _way_ fucking worse than just a simple bullet to the brain. Just don't be the person to pull the trigger. Be better than that."

"No," Lucy said, voice calmer. She steadied her hands and pulled the trigger on the gun, watching as the bullet connected with Boras skull, splattering gore on the wall behind him.

Natsu whistled lowly. "Holy shit."

" _Fuck_!" Juvia hissed under her breath, lowering the gun in her hand and switching the safety on. She took a deep breath and moved to stand in front of Natsu and Lucy, hands raised calmly. "Lucy, please hand me the gun."

Lucy was shaking in Natsu's arms, the tears having returned and her arms shaking at full force. She was gasping for air, a panicked look in her eye. She sobbed in between breaths, staring past Juvia at the mess behind her.

"Lucy, please, hand me the gun," Juvia took a step forward slowly, hand outstretched. Her voice was soft and soothing, almost motherly. "It's okay. It's all over now, you did it. Please just hand me the gun."

Lucy let out another sob, but ultimately handed over the gun. Juvia switched the safety on and set it back on the desk, glancing over her shoulder at Bora's body. She chewed on her lip for a moment before turning back to look at Natsu.

"Please take to her to the ship you came from, we have to start transferring all the girls over," Juvia said calmly, suddenly looking very tired.

Natsu nodded silently and turned to exit the room. Lucy trembled in his grasp, and before he had time to react she had leaned up and clutched tightly to his neck. She buried her nose in his collarbone and began to sob, her tears wetting his shirt. He sighed, glancing down at her empathetically before maneuvering his way down the hallway.

He carried her out onto the deck, walking towards the ship he and Gray had come from. It was difficult, trying to climb from one ship to the other with her in his arms, but he managed to do it, almost slipping in the process. He carried her down to the inside of their ship, setting her down on the bench in the tiny kitchenette.

"Hey," he said softly, hovering above her when she refused to let go of his shirt, still sobbing into his chest. He lifted a hand to rub against her hair, the touch as soft as he could make it. "It's okay. You killed the bogeyman."

She sobbed again, fingers trembling against the material of his shirt. He sighed again, staying put for the moment to continue rubbing her hair with one hand. He used the other to make small circles against her back, trying to get her to calm down.

* * *

" _Fuck_!" Juvia hissed under her breath again, pulling her hands down her face before glancing around the room in horror. "God fucking _dammit_."

She took several breaths, trying to steady her heart rate. She hadn't gotten the chance to ask Bora any questions before Lucy killed him, so that was definitely going to get her in deep shit with Jellal. Juvia understood why Lucy wanted to kill him, and in fact if she was in her position she would have wanted to do it too. However, Juvia had killed multiple people before. The action was never easier the next time you did it, and it definitely haunted you after it was all over. Lucy was going to be changed after tonight, and not for the better.

Juvia ran a hand through her long hair and sighed. She walked around to the side of the wooden desk that Bora's body was sat behind, and she began frisking him for anything she could find. Her fingers found purchase against a cellphone, and she took it, placing it in the crevice between her breasts. She couldn't wait to go home and change into something with pockets.

She checked around the room quickly, not finding anything of note, before exiting and walking back to the room with all the girls. Gray looked at her when she walked in, quirking a brow in confusion. She ignored him, glancing over the girls and mentally trying to make a plan on how to transport them out of the room.

"That was fast," Gray remarked, sounding concerned. "What happened?"

Juvia snorted humorlessly, shaking her head. "Lucy killed him within two seconds of being brought into the room."

" _What_?" Gray stared at her incredulously, before swearing under his breath. "Did you get any information out of him at all?"

"No, he was a blubbering mess when I got into the room," Juvia sighed, running a hand through her hair again. "I managed to snag his cell phone though, so hopefully the tech team can do something with it. We're relying on these girls testaments as all of our evidence right now, as well as some of the drugs that I have tucked away."

He eyed her up and down, raising another brow. "Where?"

She bit back a smile, snorting. "You don't need to know."

"Fair enough," he nodded, looking impressed. "How are we getting these girls to the ship?"

"I can carry a couple, but I'm hoping Natsu will come back and get the rest," Juvia glanced back over her shoulder at the hallway, almost expecting Natsu to be there. "You should head over to that ship and prepare to leave."

Gray nodded, grabbing his holster and slinging it over his good arm. He used the wall as a support for his back as he slid up it, standing to his full height. He glanced around the room, hesitating, before ultimately giving up on whatever he was thinking about and walking towards the door.

"I'll send Natsu over to help," he said as he passed her, exiting out into the hallway. "Careful off all these bodies!" He called back to her, his voice growing distant.

Juvia sighed again, before walking over to the closest girl and grabbing her under the shoulders. She lifted her up into a seated position, then struggled to find a purchase with her fingers around the girls torso. She lifted her body up as she stood, leaning the girls full body weight on her and tried to drag her down the hallway after Gray.

Getting her over the banister was a bitch, but eventually Natsu walked out and helped take the girl over to their ship. He brought her into a room below deck, where Juvia could only assume he had transferred Lucy. He returned in an instant, and the two of them made quick work as a tag team, Natsu carrying the girls out of the room and Juvia passing them over the railing and him carrying them into the boat room.

When all the girls were safely transported, Juvia searched the ship for gas. She found a few containers in the bottom of the ship and poured them all over the bodies in the ship and then all around the deck. She lifted the anchor, climbed over to the railing, and untied the grappling hooks from the railing.

She gave Gray the go ahead to start their ship and pull it away, and when they were safe enough away she pulled out her gun and shot a couple times at the canisters lying on the deck. The bullets impacted and the fire started quickly, eating its way through the gas and quickly engulfing the ship. She admired her handiwork for a moment, before heading towards the lower part of the ship.

The girls were lying around the cabin, pressed up against each other in booths in the tiny kitchen area. Juvia found Lucy curled in on herself, clutching a glass of water with trembling hands. Lucy stared blankly at the floor, her brown eyes red and puffy.

"Hey," Juvia said softly, walking over to her and crouching in front of her. "You were very brave today."

"I killed him," Lucy whispered, her voice hoarse.

"You did," Juvia nodded slowly, reaching up to gently tuck some of Lucy's hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry you went through that."

"Don't be," Lucy raised her eyes to meet Juvia's, and Juvia saw a spark of fire burning in them. "I don't regret it."

"You should get some rest," Juvia said after a moment, lowering her hand to rest on Lucy's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Drink some more water before you do. If you need anything just shout for me, I'll be up above trying to patch up those boys."

"Thank you," Lucy reached out to tug on Juvia's wrist gently, her voice softening. "For rescuing us. Thank you."

Juvia smiled warmly, leaning forward and giving Lucy a quick hug. The blonde reached up and wrapped her arms around Juvia tightly, burying her face in Juvia's shoulder. They pulled apart after a long moment, their arms falling away to their respective sides.

"Anytime," Juvia said with a smile, standing to her full height. "Try to rest up though, I don't know how long it will take to get to shore."

Lucy nodded and leaned back into her seat, lifting her drink to her lips and taking a sip.

Juvia turned away and looked for a first aid kit. She rifled through cupboards and shelves, and eventually found one towards the back of the room. She took it and walked towards a thin set of stairs, climbing them towards where Gray and Natsu were up above at the ship's steering wheel.

Natsu was sitting relaxed in a booth off to the side, cleaning his blades with a cloth. He glanced up when Juvia entered, and nodded his head at her. She gave him a small nod back, climbing the last of the steps. Gray glanced over his shoulder at her from where he stood in front of the wheel, his foot on a gas pedal and one hand on the wheel.

"I came to fix up your shoulder," Juvia explained, holding up the first aid kit for emphasize. "I don't think it should wait till we get to shore."

"Natsu how much time do you have?" Gray ignored Juvia, turning back to stare out the window of the ship.

"Maybe forty minutes," Natsu said, swiping a blade clean.

"Can you fix me up in that time?" Gray asked over his shoulder at Juvia.

"Yes," she nodded, even though he couldn't see.

"Natsu come take over then," Gray said, easing off of the gas pedal and the ship began to slow down.

Natsu's expression soured but he didn't fight with his partner. He packed away all his knives and rose from his seat, walking over to the captain's spot. Juvia let them talk for a bit, Gray explaining what to do to his partner while she went to take a seat on the booth.

Her muscles instantly relaxed, the tension from her shoulders subsiding for the first time all night. Perhaps the first time in three months. She reached out to grab the first aid kit sitting on the table and opened it up to see what she had to work with, pleased to find a needle and thread in there.

Gray walked over and slid in beside her, so that his wounded shoulder was next to her. He leaned back into his seat and exhaled slowly, and Juvia thought he looked as tired as she was sure she felt. Gently, she removed the tied shirt from his shoulder, apologizing when he winced.

She reached into the kit and found some gauze and rubbing alcohol, and soaked the gauze. She dabbed it around the wound, wiping away blood and disinfecting the area. Gray clenched his jaw at the sting, but to her surprise, he didn't complain.

"The bullet is still in there," she noted, frowning. "I'm going to have to take it out, which is not going to be pleasant."

"Have you ever done that before?" He eyed her wearily out of the corners of his eyes, shifting away from her slightly out of reflex.

"Yes, a few times actually," she admitted, slipping out of the booth and heading towards a flashlight she saw lying on the ground. She'd do a better job with the more light she had to see inside the wound.

"And you never killed anybody from it?" He asked, his tone something akin to teasing.

"I never said that," she looked at him blankly and he snorted. She slid back into the booth and held the flashlight towards him. "Here, hold this and point it at your shoulder. Try not to shake it much."

He did as he was told. "How did you get on that ship, anyway?"

"I pretended to be a sex worker and met with Bora in a place I knew he frequented. He drugged me and took me back to his place, where I was transferred with the other girls in the morning," she explained, too tired to lie while she rooted around the box for a pair of tweezers. Once she found them she disinfected them, and slipped on a pair of surgical gloves. "Why did Jellal send you?"

"Because we're reliable," Natsu answered, and she could hear the cocky amusement in his voice.

"Why didn't the drugs affect you like they did the other girls?" Gray asked, keeping his eyes on her face instead of staring at his wound.

"I've been trained to build up a rather good immunity to all sorts of drugs," Juvia said, leaning in and lifting the tweezers, he had a few pieces of shrapnel in his wound, and she could barely see the bullet itself. It wasn't lodged in very deep, but this still wasn't going to be a fun experience for either of them. "They actually worked better than I had anticipated they would. I was genuinely knocked out while in the van."

"So are you like some sort of super spy?" Natsu asked, sounding excited.

"Something like that," Juvia bit back a snort, pulling out a small piece of metal.

"Do you go away on missions a lot?" Gray asked, his face so close his breath was hot on her cheek.

"Yes," Juvia said, going in for another piece. She pulled it out gingerly, but still caught the sharp inhale from Gray when she must have hit something sensitive. "Sorry."

"What do you do on these missions?" Natsu asked.

"Whatever I'm told," she said cryptically, and Natsu made a disappointed sound under his breath.

"Do you kill a lot of people?" Gray asked quietly.

She stilled, looking up at him through her lashes. "Do you?"

He didn't answer, and she turned back to look at his wound. After several minutes of silence, she finally plucked the bullet out, dropping it into a piece of gauze on the table. She placed the tweezers down and reached for the needle and thread, disinfecting the needle with the alcohol.

"This is going to hurt," she warned apologetically, threading the needle with ease.

"I'm used to being patched up," Gray shook his head, smiling faintly at her though it did not reach his eyes. "Do your worst. Well. Actually I'd prefer you do your best."

She snorted quietly, before turning back to his shoulder. She held his skin tightly with one hand, her grip firm but gentle against him. She stuck the needle between his flesh, pulling through across the wound and back out again, sewing it slowly and as gently as she could. He remained perfectly still for her, watching her work with a curious gaze, keeping his breaths even.

She sewed him up to the best of her ability, tying off and cutting the thread when she was done. She disinfected all the tools she used once again, and removed the surgical gloves, tossing away everything covered in blood in a garbage can. Gray inspected her handiwork, looking impressed.

"Good job, I guess you really have done this before," he grinned loosely at her. "Thanks doc."

"No problem," she smiled, leaning back in her seat and stretching her legs out across the floor, releasing a sigh. "God I can't wait to go home."

"How long were you gone on your last mission?" Gray asked, relaxing beside her.

"Six months," she answered quietly, running her fingers through her hair to pull it away from her face.

Natsu whistled lowly. "How long were you home before you had to leave again?"

Juvia hummed thoughtfully, rolling her eyes skyward and taking a moment to think. "Maybe a week?"

Both boys stared at her in surprise, Gray holding his gaze longer than Natsu, who quickly turned back to make sure they were staying on course.

"How long do you think you'll be home this time?" Gray asked.

"I don't know, it really depends on whenever Jellal wants to send me out again," Juvia shrugged, fidgeting with her fingers in her lap. "He might keep me home for longer this time as punishment for not getting any info out of Bora."

"You treat being home like punishment?" Natsu's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Well, yes and no I guess," Juvia said, wetting her lips and leaning back some more. If she wanted to, she could have closed her eyes and fell asleep right then and there. "I like being busy."

"You can't be busy in Magnolia?" Gray asked, quirking a brow at her.

She turned to look at him, a soft grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. "It's certainly never boring in Magnolia, but my talents are more useful elsewhere."

"What talents are those?" He asked, eyeing her levelly.

"I think that's classified information," she turned away, trying to bite back her smile.

Natsu laughed, shaking his head. "Did you _really_ just pull the 'that's classified' card?"

"Yes," Juvia said, amused. "It's valid when I do it."

"It's never valid," Gray scoffed, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. "Natsu, how much more time?"

"I'm crashing hard," Natsu admitted, frowning. "Maybe five minutes."

"Alright," Gray stood slowly, rolling his good shoulder and shaking out his arm. "Switch off then, can't have you killing us all."

"Do you need anything patched up, Natsu?" Juvia asked, hesitating on cleaning up the first aid kit.

Natsu stepped away from the wheel and glanced over himself. "I think I have a little cut on my side, and possibly my forearm is broken."

"Jesus man," Gray shook his head.

"C'mere then," Juvia patted the spot next to her, and Natsu slid into the booth beside her. "Hey, what rank Twilight are you, anyway?"

He glanced at her in surprise, before his expression morphed into a cocky grin. He lifted his dog tags and allowed her to lean in and read them. She pulled back, nodding, looking impressed.

"I haven't seen one of you ranked that high in a long time," she admitted, gesturing for him to lift his shirt while she reached for some gauze and the rubbing alcohol. "Do you work for anybody?"

"Dreyar," Natsu said nonchalantly, leaning back and lifting his shirt enough so she could see the cut the bullet left on his side.

Juvia stilled, staring at him with wide eyes. "You're a _syndicate_ _member_?"

"Yeah," Natsu frowned, looking disappointed. "Why do you care?"

"Are _you_?" She wheeled on Gray, and she caught him wince. "You are! You're both _idiots_ what the hell were you thinking coming here?"

"We're getting paid, and sticking it to Ivan," Natsu explained, as if it were obvious.

Juvia shook her head and slapped the gauze against his wound. He hissed at the pain, shooting her a glare when he realized she did it on purpose. She ignored him, dabbing away the blood none too gently.

"I'm not the biggest Heartfilia fan myself," Juvia said, getting a clean piece of gauze and taping it against his chest to cover the wound. "But I would never be stupid enough to hire a rival syndicate for a job like this. Jellal is such an idiot."

"I'm sure he had his reasons," Gray said, trying to sound reasonable. "Besides, this turned out fine."

Juvia scoffed, shaking her head slightly. "If you say so. Show me your arm."

He did and she gently prodded it, wincing when she recognized the feeling of broken bones. "It's definitely broken, I'm going to go find something to make a splint. I'll be right back."

"Don't worry about it," Gray stopped her, sounding annoyed. "Let him live with the pain for one day. It's his punishment for overdosing on uppers."

Juvia rounded on Natsu, eyes wide. "You did _what_?"

He laughed uncomfortably, reaching up with his good arm and rubbing the back of his neck. "Haha...yeah. I wouldn't have been any use if I didn't."

"Why?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"His compensation," Gray explained, frowning. "Is motion sickness."

"Why the hell did Jellal send you, again?" She glanced between the two of them, wondering if this was all some big joke.

"That's a good question," Gray admitted, tilting the steering wheel slightly. "One you're going to have to ask him tomorrow. Get some rest, we'll be at the docks in a couple hours."

Suddenly, Juvia watched as Natsu's face blanched. He gripped his broken arm and hissed a string of swear words under his breath, before placing his head between his knees where he sat. She guessed the effects of his drugs had worn off, and his compensation was kicking in. He moaned in pain, making gagging sounds as if he was going to throw up.

"Go downstairs I don't want to listen to this all night," Gray ordered, scrunching his face up in disgust.

"Fuck you," Natsu groaned, burying his face deeper between his knees.

"I'm serious get out of here," Gray insisted, shooing him away with an absent hand. "Also, fuck you."

Natsu grumbled, but stood nevertheless. His legs shook, and he looked green in the face. He stumbled towards the stairs, and clambered down them. Juvia had no doubt he was going to go find the bathroom.

"Sorry about that," Gray glanced at her, amusement dancing in his eyes. "The ride back tomorrow is going to be even worse."

"That's such a strange compensation," she said in amazement, shaking her head before collecting everything for the first aid kit and shoving it back in the box. "You're not a Twilight, are you?"

Gray laughed. "No. are you?"

"No," she admitted, leaning back in her seat once more.

"Get some rest," he tried again, voice gentler this time.

She eyed him wearily for a moment. "You'll wake me up when we get to the docks?"

"Scouts honour," he held up two fingers, the middle one curved over his index, and grinned faintly.

"I can stay up and steer for a bit, you lost a lot of blood," she offered, noting the bags under his eyes and his cheeks looking slightly sallow.

"I'll be good for these few hours, don't worry about it," he turned away to stare at her fully, his grin forming into a soft smile, and he gave her a pressing look. "Just sleep."

She hummed for a moment, contemplating fighting him, before ultimately giving up. She threw her bare legs over the booth, and curled in on herself. Her clothes didn't provide much heat, and the boat itself wasn't particularly warm, but she did the most to preserve what little body heat she had left. She closed her eyes, and sleep took her easily, her body relaxing against the cushioned seat.

* * *

 **A/n: hey guys! Thanks for reading another chapter of crossfire! Be sure to leave a review when you're done!**

 **Thanks to to everyone who favourited/alerted/reviewed last time! Y'all are the best! I'm sorry I can't personally thank the guest reviews I get in pms like I can everyone else, but trust me you guys don't go unnoticed!**

 **I wasnt quite sure sure how to end this chapter tbh, so it kind of dragged on longer than I anticipated. Also, the next few chapters bring things down to a bit of a lull while we're transitioning between plot points, so it's also an apology for that I suppose. I'm really glad I was able to introduce Natsu and Lucy in this chapter. They have a scene together in the next I really like, and am excited to share with you guys. As always, thanks for reading and I'll see you guys next week!**


	4. Don't Look Back

Lucy had stayed up throughout the entire boat ride. Instead of sleeping, she spent the first hour working on her legs, tensing them and massaging them with her hands until she was able to gain function in them again. She practiced sticking out her legs and retracting them, bending them at the knee and rolling her ankles.

When she felt confident enough, she tried standing on them. She almost fell immediately, the weight of her body almost too much for her to bear. She kept trying, however, the need to be self-sufficient and her stubbornness far outweighing her desire to rest and try again later. Her legs were shaky for the first few times before she gained confidence, taking each step slowly as she built up her strength over time.

At some point early in the night Natsu had stumbled down the stairs, a hand covering his mouth, as he ran into the bathroom and promptly threw up. She had no idea what had gotten into him, seeing as he had seemed perfectly fine just before they had set off towards the harbour. After she practised walking for a bit, she walked over to the bathroom, and knocked on the ajar door gently, poking her head in.

"You alright?" She asked, pulling her face away and breathing in air that didn't smell like vomit.

Natsu lay in a heap on the floor, half his body slumped over the bowl of the toilet. He groaned, the sound echoing off the porcelain and sounding more guttural when it reached her ears.

"No," he got out after a while, gagging again though nothing came out.

"Would you like some water?" She asked, glancing at him through the crack in the door.

"I'll just throw that up too," he sighed, releasing one side of the toilet to push back his hair. As she looked him over, she took in the almost horrific sight of his body. His face was almost entirely covered in blood, and his hair was matted from blood and sweat. He looked like something out of a horror movie, though almost comical due to the fact that he was hunched over a toilet.

"I'll be right back," Lucy said after a moment, turning around and walking back into the kitchen area. She searched for a tea towel, and found an old one in a drawer by the sink. She ran the cool water, wetting the towel and walking back over to the bathroom.

She opened the door, accidentally bumping Natsu's foot in the process. She apologized quickly, and then bent down beside him. She pressed the cool cloth to the back of his neck, and dabbed it along his brow, wiping away some left over blood and sweat.

He looked exhausted. There were bags under his eyes and his breathing was uneven and shallow. Lucy took note of the way his face looked almost green in the low light, his cheeks looking sallow as if he hadn't eaten in days. It was almost like she was looking at a different person, the man she had met on the ship looked excited and even a little dangerous. The Natsu curled up before her looked like a small sick child, one who needed to be looked after.

She didn't know what made her want to help him, but she chalked it up to the way he reacted after he brought her into the ship earlier that night. She hadn't meant to hold onto him and cry; in fact she would have preferred to wait to cry until she was in Magnolia and all alone. Yet she couldn't stop the heavy tears that fell, and even though they hadn't known each other, Natsu still stayed with her and comforted her. It was strange, seeing the gentle nature of someone who had looked so chaotic the first time she had seen him. Not a bad strange, but surprising.

As she worked, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, expression guarded. "Why are you doing that?"

"I thought it might help, even just a little," she said, dabbing gently down his temple and through the length of his jaw. "Is it?"

"There's not much you can do to help compensation," Natsu said, sitting up to lean his back against the bathroom wall, slumping his shoulders.

There wasn't much space in the bathroom, so Lucy pushed aside his legs and sat between them, leaning up to clean the other side of his face. He watched her through half-lidded eyes, expression still blank though she saw some confusion and a little surprise in it. She worked gently, unfolding and refolding the cloth to keep finding cooler spots she had yet to use.

The near-pristine white of the material had been dyed a light red with the blood she had wiped from his skin. It chilled her to the bone when she noticed that no matter where she wiped the blood from, there was never a cut underneath it. She didn't know the names or faces of the people who she was cleaning away, and truth be told she didn't care. It amazed her to know Natsu had gotten out of there relatively unscathed, and she wondered if it had to do with his Twilight heritage.

"What's compensation?" She asked quietly, lifting her other hand to brush some of his hair out of his eyes. His hair, though spikey and wild, was soft to the touch.

"It's what every Twilight has," he looked surprised at the question, as if it were common knowledge. Maybe it was, but she couldn't remember. "To compensate for being above average humans, something about us is always off. It's different every time, some don't look like they age, others can't hear, some can't even taste. Which to me sounds like the worst of all."

She snorted at the dramatics, earning a soft, lopsided quirk of his lips as he watched her.

"You're not scared of me, are you?" He asked after a few moments, sounding impressed.

He watched her with a hidden intensity, his green eyes searching the plains of her face for answers of questions unasked. She shivered a little, the heat from the look he was giving her and from his general proximity chilling her. It wasn't necessarily a bad chill, in fact it felt almost thrilling. The man she had seen on the boat looked like a god of destruction, laughing in the face of anyone who had tried to oppose him. While she sat between his legs in such a tiny space she felt like she was standing in the eye of a storm that had not yet come to pass.

"Why should I be? Because you're a guy?" She pulled away to give him a dubious look.

Lucy knew, in the back of her mind, that she had every right to be scared of men. She knew that no matter what happened to her at the end of this mission she was going to be even more wary around people than she was before. She would avoid leaving her home at night, and her trust in people had virtually disappeared at this point.

However, she thought back to the feeling of pulling the trigger on that gun earlier that night. She had killed someone. Murdered in cold blood. And, truth be told, it had felt kind of exhilarating. With a single bullet she had ended the life of her tormentor, the man who had single handedly destroyed her past, present and future. It had felt freeing, in a way, like she had removed the metaphorical shackles from her ankles and took her first steps towards a new life.

She knew that single bullet had changed her though. She knew that she was fully capable of taking a life if she so chose. And while she wanted to be sure of herself and say that with that newfound knowledge she refused to let another man scare her ever again, at the moment that was all false bravado.

"No, because I'm a Twilight," his grin turned wicked, and she rolled her eyes.

"I don't care if you're a daytime or a nighttime," she said, folding and unfolding the cloth again in a different pattern. "You helped save mine, and all the other girls lives tonight. You may be born a little different, but you're a hero to me."

He held her gaze for a moment, contemplating what she had said. She could see surprise in his eyes, and then something hidden behind that, something warm, like pride or maybe even appreciation. She wasn't lying when she said she didn't care. Why should it matter if he was one of those so called Twilights? He hadn't done anything to make her think he was a bad person.

They were quiet for a moment. Natsu had dropped his grin, his eyelids fluttering to an almost close, as if even watching her took up a lot of energy. She continued her work gently but diligently, the bare of his skin finally returning in most areas. While she worked she noticed his high cheekbones and sloping nose, and under all the blood his skin was soft. For a man that struck her as abrasive, she was almost surprised that his skin wasn't rough around the edges, like his personality seemed to be.

"Yknow, people like you think people like me are monsters," he said it casually, though she could hear the underlying bitterness in his tone.

"I don't think you're a monster," she admitted, leaning up to dab against his right temple. "Besides, everyone has the capability of becoming a monster. Bora wasn't a Twilight, and look what he did. How you're born doesn't matter, it's what you choose to become that makes a difference."

Natsu laughed shortly, looking at her with a sparkle in his eye. "You sound like my dad. He would like you."

She smiled slightly, continuing her work as gently as she could. "I'm only saying what any rational person would say."

Natsu lifted a hand to gently catch her wrist. He pulled it down lower, so she wasn't able to touch him, and she stared at him. She knew he was holding her with barely any effort, but she didn't have even the strength to pull free from that. It was almost chilling how strong he was, but how gentle he could be.

The intensity she had felt before strengthened, and Natsu held her gaze in such a captivating manner she wasn't sure she would have been able to look away if she had wanted to. She had no idea what his past had been like, but from the vibe that was radiating off of him something she had said had obviously struck a chord within him. There wasn't any humour or mirth in his eyes when he looked at her, only something serious and heavy, a front for several emotions he was hiding from her.

"There are way more irrational people in the world than rational, if that's what you think," he said seriously, and she could tell he had been treated less than kindly in the past.

She looked at him then, finding their positions switched where she had multiple questions that she didn't dare ask. Lucy wasn't entirely sure she believed in ghosts, but looking at Natsu right then, she had never seen such a person look so haunted. She wasn't sure what to say to him, the want to pry into his past clawing at her from the inside, but knowing that wouldn't be right. Instead, she opted to tell him the truth, or at least, the truth she had felt in that moment.

"If I ever meet such an irrational person I'd be glad to put them in their place," she said confidently, earning another laugh from him.

"You're funny," he said after his laugh, smiling at her. She returned a softer version of it, and he released her wrist.

She continued to clean his face, and when she was all done she sat back with a sigh. They sat in companionable silence for several moments, Natsu glancing between her and the toilet like he was deciding whether to talk or to throw up.

"So, hey," she started after a moment, voice quiet and heat creeping up her neck. "Thank you...for staying with me while I cried. I'm sorry for doing that to you, it just kind of happened."

He stared at her for a moment, and for an instant she was terrified he was going to laugh at her. "What are you apologizing for?" He asked, sounding genuinely confused. "You reacted normally. I would have thought something was up if you hadn't cried. Hell, if you need to do it again then be my guest."

A smile tugged at the edges of her mouth, wider and warmer than the previous ones, and it finally reached her eyes this time. The tension in her shoulders disappeared, and she let out the breath she was holding. All the anxiety that had been building in her stomach disappeared within an instant.

"Thank you," she said, her throat constricting.

He opened his mouth to respond, but instead leaned forward passed her and threw up into the toilet. She laughed lightly, lifting a hand to rub circles against his back like he had done to her. One of his arms fell forward into her lap, and she took his hand in hers and rubbed her thumb along the back, hoping it had the same desired affect as the hand on his back.

They sat like that for awhile, Lucy finding comfort in the gentle nature of their proximity.

* * *

It was still dark outside when Gray steered the ship into the dock. The wharf was almost pitch black, only a few street lamps that hadn't burnt out yet lighting his way like tiny stars against the inky black water. He almost crashed the ship due to his lack of light and exhaustion, and somehow managed to catch himself in time to fix his mistake. Carefully, he parked the ship and killed the engine, rubbing his eyes feverently to try and reduce the want of sleep before he exited the upper deck.

He walked through the tiny kitchen area, noting all the girls sleeping peacefully propped up against each other in booths. He wasn't sure when they were going to wake up, and it worried him that they were still unconscious but he decided to leave it be for the moment. The more he worried the more time he wasted, which was a horrible idea considering the sensitivity of this case. He needed to get everyone to proper safety in Magnolia as soon as possible, which meant leaving within the next ten minutes.

As he walked past the girls, he noticed Lucy missing. He wasn't sure if she managed to gain back her use of her legs, but he still looked around the deck in worry while he dropped the anchor. He hadn't seen he while he was steering, but considering it was so dark outside and how tired he was he wouldn't have been surprised if she had managed to disappear. He really hoped she hadn't jumped ship, the thought churning his stomach in anxiety.

When he didn't find her on the deck, he returned into the base of the ship. He glanced around the main cabin area and checked the utility closets and spare room to no avail.

He relaxed when he found her in the bathroom, sitting curled up next to Natsu on the tiny porcelain floor. He leaned against the doorframe, cocking a brow at his partner when he took in the sight. The two stopped whatever conversation they were having and looked up at him.

"We're at the docks," he said, resting his hand on his hip. "Get ready to leave soon."

"The trains won't be running for hours," Natsu scrunched his nose, leaning his head back against the wall to stare at his partner.

Gray reached into his pocket and produced a single car key, grinning. "I snagged one of the van keys from one of the guys on the ship on my way out. We can get to Magnolia with less issues this way."

"Driving takes so much longer," Natsu lamented, wincing when his broken arm inevitably flared up in pain.

"Good, it's more punishment for being stupid," Gray shot him a glare, and Lucy glanced between the two of them in confusion. "Anyway, go outside and look to see if anyone's waiting, or if we're being watched. I don't want any complications."

Natsu groaned, but stood up nevertheless. Lucy looked between them again, and when Natsu held out a hand to help her up she accepted easily. Gray bit back his surprise, not used to seeing someone so comfortable around a Twilight. It was a good surprise, something he wished he felt more of.

"I'll let you know when the coast is clear," Natsu grumbled, releasing Lucy's hand and brushing past Gray to exit the ship.

"Should I do anything?" Lucy asked, reaching a hand up to clasp her bicep awkwardly, glancing around the bathroom.

"Pack up some blankets and fill up some containers with water," Gray said, nudging his chin in the direction of the kitchen. "Those girls are going to be thirsty when they come too. If you can find any food that's still good, take that as well."

"Okay," Lucy nodded, looking determined. She slipped past him, heading down the thin hallway towards the kitchen.

Gray sighed and ran a hand through his hair, letting his back rest against the doorframe for just a moment longer. His shoulder had flared up when he used the last bit of his strength to lift the anchor. He was lucky he hadn't ripped the stitches; Juvia's handiwork holding firm when he needed it to the most. He knew he had lost a lot of blood, definitely more than he had anticipated, and he would need rest as soon as it was available. However, he knew he had a long drive ahead of him. A train to Magnolia would have only taken a handful of hours, but a drive without complications would take half a day or less. He knew he was going to have to stop somewhere for coffee if he was able, needing the caffeine like air at the moment.

He pressed off the doorframe and headed towards the thin metal staircase, taking the steps two at a time. He walked over to where Juvia lay, curled up on herself on the bench, looking rather peaceful in her sleep. He felt bad for waking her, knowing she was just as exhausted as he was, but nevertheless leaned down to try.

He shook her shoulder gently with his good hand, calling her name to try to get her to wake up. When his hand touched her skin and he felt how cold she was, her outfit providing only the barest of coverage throughout the night, he felt regret turn in his stomach. He should have tried to find something to keep her warm for the few hours they were on the water, but they were all so occupied with leaving as fast as possible they hadn't made time to search the ship for anything useful.

She scrunched her face, looking like she was trying to ignore him before her eyes snapped open wildly and she reached back for a punch. He darted out of the way just in time, thankful his reaction time hadn't slowed down with all of his exhaustion, allowing her arm to swing through air without finding purchase.

"Good morning, sunshine," he said sarcastically, trying to hide his surprise.

"Oh! Sorry!" She pulled her hand back to cover her mouth, looking at him in embarrassment. "I forgot where I was for a moment."

He snorted, finding the blush that dusted her cheeks a rosy colour a little endearing. He was so used to the blunt, hard ass Juvia from earlier in the night he hadn't expected to see this side of her. She looked almost childish with her wide eyes and hair unkempt from being slept on.

"Don't worry about it," he grinned, relaxing where he stood. "We're at the docks though. Natsu is checking to see if we're good to leave, and I'm going to go take one of those vans parked farther down the dock. We're driving back to Magnolia."

"That's a good idea," Juvia admitted, removing her hand from her mouth to pull it back and run her fingers through her long blue hair. "I can drive if you want to rest."

"Sure, we can switch off in a couple hours," Gray nodded, feeling grateful for the offer. "I'm going to go grab the van, feel free to walk around the ship or check on the girls until we leave. Lucy is awake."

"She hadn't slept?" Juvia looked at him, her eyes filled with concern.

"I don't know," he admitted, reaching up to scratch his cheek. "When I came downstairs she was hanging out in the bathroom with Natsu."

"Why?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't ask me," he raised his hands defensively. "Ask her that."

Juvia hummed thoughtfully before swinging her legs off the bench and rising to her feet. She stretched, yawning widely before dropping her hands and glanced around with sleepy eyes. She caught him looking at her, and she gave him a curious look before something caught her eye and she took a step forward.

"Your neck," she said quietly, reaching up and running her fingers gently along where she had scratched him. "I'm sorry, I should clean it."

"It's fine," he said, admitting to himself that he had actually completely forgotten it happened. The cuts hadn't hurt since she pulled her nails down his skin, but the raw wounds burned slightly when she ran her fingers down them. He ignored the pain though, as it was definitely something tolerable. "It doesn't hurt. Besides, you did enough patching me up last night."

"Well, you and Natsu are the reason we're all alive right now," Juvia admitted, retracting her hand and letting it fall to her side. "I'm not sure what would have happened if I had to do that alone."

"I don't know," he eyed her with amusement, though he was being serious. "You seem pretty tough."

He wasn't lying. He did genuinely think that she was strong, and in fact he kind of admired her for it. When she had kicked him and he was lying on the ground, the world spinning at a million miles an hour, he had marvelled at the intensity of her kick. It was a feat he wasn't sure many had, and she used it well. They were all under a time crunch the night before which resulted in every one of them feeling the pressure of doing their job properly. Because of that, he could recognize her ability to keep a calm head and form a plan on how to protect those girls to the best of her ability. He had never done a job like this before, and he wasn't sure he would ever want to do another one like it again. Though he knew that this probably wasn't the first for Juvia, and more than likely wouldn't be the last. It amazed him to know she was able to keep doing things like this, and do it well.

He definitely respected her.

She snorted, reaching up to pull a lock of hair behind her ear. "Strength doesn't mean anything when you're outnumbered 16 to one."

"You almost took me out," he admitted, sounding as impressed as he felt. "That's gotta count for something. Plus, you took out two guys without even blinking. I'm sure you're not a secret agent, or whatever you call yourself, for no reason."

She raised her brows slightly, looking amused. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Anytime," a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"We're good to go!" Natsu hollered from the bottom of the stairs, sounding pained from being on the boat again. "Hurry up!"

"Ready?" Gray looked at Juvia, and she nodded.

He turned back to the stairs and stepped down them, patting Natsu on the shoulder as he passed him. Juvia walked behind him quietly, breaking off at the bottom of the stairs to join Lucy in the kitchen.

Gray walked out of the ship and onto the deck, inhaling the fresh sea air. He walked over to the edge of the ship closest to the boat, and walked across the plank Natsu had dropped down. He exited the wharf, walking down the street towards the three vans that sat unattended on the street.

If he hadn't known Hargeon to be home to something as horrible as what Bora had been doing for god knows how long, he would have thought it to be a beautiful city. Even though the sun hadn't risen yet, he could still make out the beautiful cottage-style homes lining the streets and the shops scattered amongst them. He knew the port had a wonderful tourist life during the day, multiple restaurants having taken up occupation right by the sea.

It was a short walk to the van's, the cool morning air nipping at his exposed skin. It didn't bother him though, Gray finding comfort in the cold. He found cold air to the best wake up call, and it would have to do until he was able to get some coffee into his system.

He checked the key on each van, finding the lock undoing on the farthest one from the docks. He climbed in, sliding the key into the ignition and adjusted the seat and mirrors to match his preference. He backed up slowly, parking the van as close to the docks as he could get. He shut off the van, leaving the key in the ignition and sliding out of the cab. He walked around to the back and opened the doors just in time for Natsu to come out, carrying one of the girls in his arms.

Gray stepped to the side, allowing Natsu to climb into the back of the van and set the girl in a seated position on the floor of the van. Natsu climbed back out, eyeing the boat wearily before steeling himself and walking towards the dock again. Gray grinned loosely, shaking his head and walking after his partner.

* * *

Juvia helped Lucy search the ship for anything that would be useful on the trip. They found a couple tattered blankets, jugs of water and a couple packages of saltine crackers. Not much, but enough until they were safely out of town and able to make a stop to get better supplies.

Natsu had come in and out of the ship quickly, lifting the unconscious girls and wincing in pain when their weight was placed on his broken arm. Juvia offered to help but he shook his head, just wanting to get this done as soon as possible so they could leave. She wasn't sure she knew any normal person who was able to tolerate that amount of pain so easily, but then again Natsu wasn't a normal person. Absently, she wondered if all Twilight's had a pain tolerance like that, or if Natsu was just a special case.

Juvia returned to the top of the ship quickly, grabbing the first aid kit and flashlight from the table before heading back downstairs. She wasn't sure if they were going to need either, but it was always better to be safe rather than sorry. When she reached the bottom, she found all the girls had been transferred to the van, and only Lucy remained, getting ready to exit the ship.

"It's going to be a long ride," Juvia admitted, falling into step behind Lucy. "You should get some rest in the van. If any of the girls wake up I'll need you to help give them food and drink and keep them calm."

"Okay," Lucy said quietly, nodding her head, pulling the blankets in her arms closer.

"I'm sorry you haven't had much time to process this," Juvia said quietly, reaching out to place a hand on Lucy's arm. The blonde turned around and looked at her with wide eyes. "I'm asking a lot of you, I know."

Lucy shook her head, smiling. "No, it's okay. I'd rather keep my mind occupied than dwell on what happened. I'll have time to deal with it later."

Juvia couldn't even imagine what Lucy must have been going through in that moment, and if they weren't in the potential of being in danger, Juvia would have sat down and talked it out with her if she was able to. She had come to recognize Lucy as an exceptionally strong person, not just physically but mentally as well. To be able to hold herself together like this, even if she may be falling apart at the seams, was quite a feat. She amazed Juvia, and Juvia had tremendous respect for her, but that didn't stop her from feeling sorry for her or worrying about her. Even the strongest people have their breaking points.

Juvia nodded, squeezing her arm affectionately before releasing her. "I want to warn you ahead of time that the police are going to want to talk to you. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to relive some of what happened. Anything you can remember will be useful."

Lucy sighed, reaching up to pull hair behind her ear. "I figured. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, I think."

"Fair enough," Juvia said, gesturing for Lucy to walk on ahead.

The blonde girl exited the ship deck, walking across the plank and off the dock towards the van. Natsu offered his good hand to have her climb in, and he got in after her. Juvia walked over to the opening to the van, shining the flashlight in the space while Lucy placed some blankets over groups of girls. Lucy then took the flashlight from Juvia and walked to the back of the van, curling up next to Natsu against the back wall.

"Here," Gray tossed a pill bottle to Natsu, who caught it with ease. "Take the recommended dosage, no more than that. I can't have you throwing up on these girls. _Don't_ abuse it or I'll take it away."

"Yeah, yeah," Natsu muttered, opening the pill bottle and shaking out a couple tablets. He popped them into his mouth, chewing on them quickly.

"Alright, we'll check up on you in a couple hours," Juvia said with a nod, sending Lucy a quick smile before placing her hands on either side of the double doors to the van, slamming them shut. She and Gray walked around to their respective sides of the van, Juvia sliding easily into the driver's side and adjusting her seat and mirrors to her preference. "I have to make a stop on our way out of town. It won't take longer than two minutes."

"Isn't that risky?" Gray asked, placing a loaded gun on the bench next to him in case he needed to use it.

"Yes, but it's necessary," she turned the key in the ignition, the van rumbling to life. "I trust you can keep everyone safe for a couple minutes?"

He eyed her wearily out of the corner of his eye, and she chose to ignore it. She may have hurt his pride momentarily, but she was sure he was going to get over it.

Pulling down on the gear, she pressed her foot lightly on the gas pedal and peeled away from the curb. She drove through the dark city streets, the only source of light coming from the street lamps and the moon overhead. The clock on the van's dash read 5am, and they were getting close to the sun coming up. They needed to get out of the city before that happened, and it was easier for them to get spotted.

She pressed a little harder on the gas, choosing to run stop signs than to take the chance and pause at them. She maneuvered the van with ease, her grip firm but not tense on the leather steering wheel. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Gray lean forward and fiddle with the dial to the radio, finding a station he liked and sitting back in his seat.

She pulled up to the curb in front of the apartment building she had lived in the past three months, the worn brick building blocking out the moonlight with its height. She cut off the engine, leaving the key in the ignition and instructing Gray to drive away if anything happened. She exited the van, glancing around the street for anyone watching her, before hopping up the steps to the building and entering.

The lobby was faintly lit, the only sources of light coming from electric light bulbs in tiny sconces hung around the minimalist foyer. She noticed no one at the front desk, and turned towards the staircase. She ran up the linoleum as fast as she could, pushing her muscles to the brink. They screamed in defiance, begging her to stop and take a break from the exhaustion she had gained over the course of the night.

She climbed three flights of stairs and stopped there, walking down the hallway towards the room she had called home for the past three months. She reached for the key she had hidden under a rock in a plant basin near her room, sliding it into the lock and opening the door. She glanced around, listening for the sound of any intruders.

When it was safe, she entered the room and got to work.

Her apartment was tiny, with green paint-peeled walls and a musty scent that never went away due to the age of the building. It was furnished with the bare minimum, with a lumpy mattress on her bed and a fridge that only worked half the time. It was home for the mission, but any time she came back to it her heart ached for her place back in Magnolia.

She had a duffel bag set out in preparation for her departure, and her gun holster sat next to it on her bed, waiting to be used. She attached the holster around her hips and pulled a sweater from her duffel bag, slipping it over her head and instantly feeling more comfortable as her skin was covered. She hated feeling exposed, especially to such an extent.

She ran into the kitchen, grabbing a few water bottles from the fridge and a bag of potato chips from the cupboard. She didn't have any other food to bring than that, and she shoved it roughly into her duffel bag before slipping it over her shoulder and exiting her apartment. She didn't bother to lock the door, instead running down the hall as fast as she could towards the stairs.

She took the stairs two at a time, trying her best not to slip as she sped down them. She raced across the foyer, and stopped to collect herself before exiting the building. She checked the streets once again, before hopping down the steps and jogging around the front of the van towards the drivers side. She slipped in, pulling the seatbelt across her chest and turning the key to the ignition.

"That was fast," Gray murmured, shifting more towards his door when she dropped the heavy duffel bag beside them on the bench.

"I had everything ready," Juvia said, peeling away from the curb and heading in the direction that lead out of town. She glanced in her rearview mirror, double checking to see if anyone was following them. So far, the coast was clear, and she breathed out in relief. "Do me a favour and pull the bag of chips out of the bag and open them for me, I'm hungry."

Gray snorted, reaching for the bag. "Yes ma'am," he said, unzipping the lid and shoving a hand in to search for the bag of chips.

When he found them he opened the bag with a short pop, reaching in and pulling a chip out to pop into his mouth. Juvia reached over blindly with her right hand, trying to grab at the bag. She was hungry beyond belief, and her stomach was growling.

Gray, deciding to be an ass, pulled the bag away from her. She ripped her eyes away from the road momentarily, glaring at him. He watched her with amusement, snorting before popping another chip in his mouth and curling in on himself at the end of the bench.

"I paid for those!" She snapped, returning her eyes to the road and reaching blindly with her hand again.

"Yes, but I took a bullet for them," he said, biting down hard on another chip just to frustrate her.

"You're about to take another," she threatened, leaning to the side and finding purchase on the bag and ripping it from his grasp. She dropped the bag in her lap with a huff, reaching in and pulling out a greasy chip, popping it in her mouth.

"What else do you have in here?" Gray asked, peering into the duffel bag curiously. "It's like a grab bag of fun."

"Keep your nose out of it," she ordered, trying to reach for the bag but he smacked her hand away gently.

"I'm bored," he whined, rifling through her things.

"Then go to sleep," she reached for another chip, popping it into her mouth with a satisfactory crunch.

"How can I sleep after finding out that you have Mato underwear?" He asked, sounding impressed.

"Get out of there!" She hissed, face turning red, tearing her eyes away from the road for a moment to reach for the bag and pull it closer towards her. When she was distracted turning back to the road, while trying to zip up her bag, Gray leaned over and snagged the bag of chips again. "You are such a jerk."

"Yeah, but I'm a hungry jerk," she caught the grin he gave her out of the corner of her eyes, and she shook her head, biting back a smile.

Eventually they called a truce and Gray placed the chip bag between them on the bench, and they took turns pulling chips from them.

They exited the city in under twenty minutes, deciding to take the back roads for less chance to be spotted. They stayed in companionable silence for awhile, only breaking it to bicker over the radio station. Gray had wanted to listen to something more upbeat, while Juvia wanted something more relaxing, and it took them awhile to find a happy medium.

Absently, Juvia thought it was going to be a long trip.

* * *

The back of the van was hard and bumpy, and it took a bit of wiggling around for Lucy to be comfortable. She had a blanket wrapped around herself, leaning her back against the back wall and staring ahead in the dark. Natsu sat beside her, their biceps brushing against each other any time the van rocked over a pothole. He seemed slightly uncomfortable, but he hadn't thrown up yet so she assumed whatever pills he had taken had their desired affect on him.

"Natsu?" She whispered in the dark, wondering if he was asleep.

He grunted, their arms brushing against each other as the van rounded a corner.

"What's Magnolia like?" Lucy asked, almost certain she had never been to the city, even amongst her missing memories. The drugs had left her body, but she still couldn't remember anything from her life from before Bora. She had no idea who she was, or even where she came from.

"Busy," Natsu snorted, shifting beside her. "Big. Loud. It has a pretty nice nightlife, though. Why?"

"I'm just curious," she shrugged, pulling the blanket tighter around her. "I don't know what's going to happen after I get there."

That wasn't entirely the truth. She was curious, but she was also scared. For the moment she was safe, but there was no guarantee that was going to last once she got to Magnolia. She didn't know a single thing about her past, and thus she wasn't sure she had anywhere to go after all of her business was settled. The last thing she wanted was to end up on the streets and being taken in by another Bora. She die before she allowed that to happen.

"Well, I imagine Jellal will want to talk to you," Natsu said. "Then I suppose you can do whatever you like. Do you have a family you can go home to?"

"I don't know," Lucy admitted, chewing on her bottom lip. "I can't remember much of my life. Who's this Jellal everyone keeps mentioning?"

"He's…," Natsu trailed off, humming in thought. "He's a cop. A real nice guy, when he wants to be. He's been getting kind of grumpy lately due to stress, but I'm sure he'll be nice to you when you meet him." He leaned over to her and bumped her shoulders in the dark. "Why can't you remember anything? Have anesthesia?"

"I think it's _amnesia_ ," she giggled, pressing back against him. "And I don't know. I think my memories will come back to me at one point, but it's just a matter of playing the waiting game I suppose. What if I don't have anywhere to go back to?"

"Then stay in Magnolia," she felt him shrug, his tone sounding simple, as if the answer was obvious. "It's a good place, territory wise. I'm sure you could find a job there, there's always a store hiring. What do you like to do, anyway?"

She found it almost funny how easily he had come up with an answer to her problem. He made it seem like life was so simple, that no matter what she could just do what she wanted without any regard for how the world worked. Lucy was coming to the realization that Natsu seemed to be relatively carefree, and she assumed his past had jaded him to the point where he just stopped caring about the rules society had set. Lucy had no money, no job, she didn't know Magnolia in the slightest and yet he had said she could stay there without even hesitating. She wondered, absently, if she would ever become that carefree.

"I don't remember," she admitted, fingering the hem of the blanket.

"Right," he breathed the word out, sounding embarrassed for having forgot.

They remained silent for a moment, Lucy trying to think hard about his question. Did she have any hobbies? Friends? A past job, perhaps? Those were all questions that no matter how hard she tried to search her brain, she couldn't find answers to. It was frustrating, Lucy feeling like she wanted to bang her head against the wall in the hopes that the thoughts would rattle around to the surface of her brain. She wanted to know who she was, before she planned on who she was going to become after entering Magnolia.

"You should sleep," Natsu said quietly, and even in the dark she could feel his eyes on her. "It's been a long day and this trip will be even longer. Just try to get some rest so you can be better prepared for when we get to Magnolia."

"It's kind of hard in such an uncomfortable space," she snorted, patting the metal floor of the van gently.

"You can use me as a pillow, if you want," she felt Natsu shrug again. "I can understand if you don't want to, but the option's there."

She hesitated, thinking the offer over. Lucy had been around a lot of really bad men over the past few months, and even being this close to Natsu left her kind of tense. Being in such a small space, in the dark no less, was giving her anxiety. However, she wasn't scared of him. When he comforted her after she shot Bora, his touch was the most gentle thing she had experienced in a long time. She didn't think he was going to hurt her, in fact she was almost positive he wasn't going to. She just had a gut instinct about it.

"You promise you won't throw up on me?" She teased, bumping their shoulders together again.

"No," he snorted. "But I _can_ promise I am comfy."

"Guess I'll have to be the judge of that," she said quietly, leaning her head down in the dark to find purchase against his shoulder. He raised his arm around her shoulders, pulling her forward so her chest rested against the crook of his neck. His skin was warm, warmer than the blanket and smelling faintly of sweat and copper. She leaned into him more, her muscles relaxing almost immediately, her exhaustion finally taking over.

"Good night, sleep tight," she heard him murmur into her hair, before the darkness consumed her consciousness and she gave in to her need for sleep.

* * *

 **A/n: hello again everyone! I hope you liked this weeks chapter! If you did or even didn't, leave a review telling me your thoughts, I'd love to hear them! Thank you again to everyone who fav/followed/reviewed last week that was awesome! We're almost at 100 follows which blows my mind guys. If we do reach 100 follows and get up to 40 reviews ( feel free to go past that though ;) ) I will post a sneak peak of chapter 5 at the end of the next chapter !**

 **Also I've had this chapter sitting in wait for the past couple weeks and just this morning I added an extra 1.5k words in the hopes that it flowed better. I've been limiting myself to 5k as the max words per chapter (excluding the last chapter) and I think my writings been suffering for it. I've come to the conclusion that 5k will be the absolute** ** _minimum_** **of words per chapter and it will vary on length depending on how I want it to go. I'm also only telling you guys this because you should expect longer chapters from now on, and I'm not sure if absolutely all of you will be happy about that. I know extremely long fics can be taxing on some people so this is just a heads up!**

 **I've also decided I'm going to rewrite the first three chapters at some point, but probably not till after this story is completed. Oh well, that doesn't really matter now I guess. See you guys next week! Have a good one : )**


	5. Freedom

Gray wasn't sure when exactly he had drifted off to sleep. The last thing he remembered was changing the radio to something more attuned to his preferences, earning a soured expression from Juvia when it didn't match up to what she enjoyed. He didn't remember the full extent of his dream either, but he did remember it had felt more like a childhood memory than a dream. The last thing he saw was his mothers smiling face before his eyes opened, and a sickening feeling churned in his stomach.

He didn't like remembering her. Not ever.

The dashboard clock read 8am when Gray eventually forced his eyes open. He looked around the van cab with heavy lidded eyes, jumping in surprise when he found Juvia missing. He looked out the window, finding that they were parked at a gas station, the smell of fuel burning his nose.

Juvia opened the driver's door a moment later, carrying several plastic bags full of an assortment of things. She tossed him a hoodie with the logo of the gas station on it, the material three sizes too large for him. He held the fabric in his hands, stretching it out in front of him to inspect it before quirking a brow at her.

"I don't think that when those girls come to they're going to be too happy at seeing a half naked man in front of them," she explained, climbing into the truck bed and strapping her seatbelt in. She dropped the bags she was carrying between them, and turned the ignition, peeling away from the gas station.

Gray glanced down at himself. It was true, he had to discard of his bloodied shirt back on the boat, and he hadn't thought to bring another one. Shrugging, he unzipped the hoodie and pulled it on gingerly, careful of his shoulder smarting. He left the zipper half done, the plush material made for winter type weather, and much too warm for the interior of the cab.

"What'd you buy?" He asked, leaning over to rifle through the plastic bags.

Juvia smacked his hands away, throwing him a dirty look before returning her eyes to the road. "It's food for the girls. I want to pull over somewhere quiet and check on them, there's a chance some of them are awake by now."

Gray noted a pepperoni stick poking out from one of the bags and grabbed it before Juvia could stop him, peeling the wrapper and taking a bite of the spiced meat before she could protest. He chewed slowly, his mouth dry from hours of sleep, his tongue feeling heavy in his mouth. He rooted around for her duffel bag again, unzipping it and pushing things around until he found a water bottle.

"You don't understand the concept of 'not for you', do you?" Juvia asked rhetorically, shaking her head.

"No, I do," he said, swallowing thickly and fussing with the water bottle cap. "I'm just electing to ignore it right now."

He tipped the lid of the bottle to his lips and allowed the crystalline liquid to slip down his throat. The water was instantly cooling, washing away the thick feeling of his tongue and making it easier to talk. He took another desperate mouthful, focusing instead on the liquid than the sickening twist in his gut that was slowly slipping away with time. He pushed all thoughts, or memories, of his mother to the back of his brain and willed them to stay there. He had a mission to finish, and he wasn't positive they were completely out of the water until they reached Magnolia.

"How thoughtful," Juvia rolled her eyes, reaching over and snatching the pepperette from his hands and taking a bite.

"Get your own," he reached for it, but she held it away from him, trying to hide her grin.

"Sharing is caring," she said around her mouthful, chewing a few more times before swallowing.

"Mhm. Hypocrite," he said it bitterly, but they both knew he wasn't being serious.

They drove in silence for a few moments, Juvia taking another bite from the pepperette and Gray sipping on his water. He stared out the window beside him, watching the scenery of rolling hills and expanse of farmland rush by them as the car gained speed. If it wasn't such an important mission, he would have been glad to have taken the scenic route, enjoying the greenery while it lasted.

"Did you sleep well?" Juvia asked, holding out the pepperette for him to take.

"As well as I could in a cramped van," he said, taking the stick and placing his water bottle in her hand.

She lifted the bottle to her mouth, taking several long mouthfuls before reaching down to place it in the cup holder. "You should try sleeping more, I can last a couple more hours at least."

"Nah, it's hard to sleep with this shoulder," he shook his head, adjusting in his seat so he angled his body towards her. He watched her drive, noting her nose scrunched slightly whenever she concentrated. Absently, he thought she looked kind of cute. "Besides, we should probably switch off. I got a few more hours than you, at least, and we should be in Magnolia soon."

It wasn't entirely a lie, what he had said about his shoulder. The wound was still fresh and his muscled ached and screamed in protest any time he moved. It would take awhile to heal, and that was if he was giving himself time to properly rest. However, the main reason he didn't want to go back to sleep was the deep-rooted fear of whatever else he could see the moment he closed his eyes. He had plenty of skeletons in his closet, and even though he never usually wanted to face them, today was especially not the day to be losing concentration.

"I'm not tired," she said quietly, glancing out of the rear view before switching on her blinker to change lanes.

"No?" He didn't believe her, he could see the bags under her eyes and the way her top eyelids fluttered slowly from exhaustion. He had to hand it to her, she didn't give up easily. "Too excited to go home?"

She snorted at that, leaning back in the seat and letting out a small sigh. "I'm not going to lie, it will be nice to go back to my own bed."

"What makes someone choose a life like this?" He asked, locking eyes with her for a moment as she sent him a curious glance, not understanding the question. "I mean, how do you just wake up one day and go 'oh I know! I'm going to become a super secret badass spy'?"

She laughed breathlessly, reaching up with one hand to pull hair behind her ear. He noticed she did that a lot whenever she was asked about her life, and absently he wondered if it was a nervous habit. He understood better than anyone wanting to keep your life private, but there was something about her that intrigued him and made him want to press her for information. Maybe he saw some of himself in her, but he might have been reading too far into it.

He also liked hearing her talk. His initial impression of her was that she was kind of bristly, and unapproachable. Understandable, considering how they had met. But now her voice seemed softer, almost gentler like she was too tired to keep up her facade. He also wanted to drown himself in the thought of someone else's life, knowing full well he didn't have a life preserver for his own. It was getting more and more impossible to stay afloat with each passing day in his own head, so he was thankful for the distraction.

"Well, I went to the police academy in Magnolia," she started to explain, reaching blindly for the pepperette again. He placed it in her hand gently, deciding not to tease her when he was finally learning things about her. "And I excelled really well, so they put me into a new program for undercover operatives. There's only a handful of us in existence, and we're almost never back in Magnolia at the same time."

"So you're like a group of spies, and you're all so good at what you do they send you out on missions alone all the time?" He whistled lowly when she nodded, impressed. "And I thought my job was cool."

There were perks to his job, for sure. While in Magnolia anyone who knew who he was (or by definition, what he was-someone under Makarov) treated him differently. Better than he had ever expected to be treated in his life, that was to say the least. He was thankful he wasn't a Twilight, seeing as anyone who didn't belong to a syndicate (and even still, some in them) looked down on Twilights like dogs. He was fortunate enough that he could walk around without any trouble at all. Being under Makarov was like having a free pass at life. He could do whatever, say whatever, eat whatever, live wherever and no one said a word about it. There were still morals to live by, of course, and Gray tried his best to live his life as peacefully as he could. But that didn't mean the guns he carried on him at all times were just for decoration.

She scoffed, glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes. "Right, because being a _syndicate_ member is really classy."

"Oh- _ho_!" He laughed incredulously at her, angling so he was facing her more, pulling a leg up onto the bench. "I guess I shouldn't really be shocked that the cop doesn't approve of syndicates."

Most cops he knew, knew to look the other way whenever a syndicate was involved. At least, most of the beat cops in Magnolia did. It wasn't uncommon to come across someone who valued the law and looked down upon syndicates, but that didn't mean that they were necessarily right. Anyone who believed the law should be held up above all else in the type of world they currently lived in was a fool. Still, that didn't stop those people from trying their damnedest to try and uphold justice and peace to the best of their (legal) ability.

Gray thought his way of doing things was much faster, but he wasn't going to say that to Juvia.

"I guess not," she said quietly, reaching up to bite the pepperette before handing it back to him. She chewed with a sour expression on her face, but he noticed her eyes looked guarded.

"Yknow," he started, voice nonchalant as he reached up with his free hand to run a hand through his hair. "Not all syndicates are bad. Or at least, the actions of a few don't reflect on the majority."

She snorted humorlessly, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye before fixing her gaze back on the road. "Syndicates thrive off of illegal activity. Sure, there's bad eggs everywhere in the world but you can't tell me you guys don't have problems."

"And every cop is good?" He countered, watching her as her eyebrows knit together. "Even a cop with good intentions can do bad things. Look at Jellal, he almost started a war."

"You should have never taken this job," Juvia shook her head, white knuckling the steering wheel. "Be honest, why did he ask you anyway? If the other members of my team were busy, what made him turn to you two of all people?"

"I really don't know," Gray admitted. "Maybe it's because Natsu and I are pretty notorious for taking on odd jobs around Magnolia. Maybe it's because we and Jellal go way back. Who knows? That's a question for him."

"Are you close?" The edge in her voice was gone, her tone gentler and genuinely curious.

"Not as close as we used to be before he became chief," Gray said, angling his head so he could look out the windshield, eyes distant as he thought of his past with Jellal. "Jellal was always the guy that Natsu and I called when we were in trouble. Back when we were shitty teenagers he took us under his wing. He's almost like a brother, to a certain extent. Maybe a distant cousin, at the moment."

She snorted, trying to bite back a grin. "You _totally_ ruined it."

"What? _How_?" He turned back to stare at her, feeling his pride wounded slightly.

"The whole 'distant cousin' analogy totally killed it," the corners of her mouth tugged up, revealing a row of perfectly straight, white teeth.

"I was _trying_ to be poetic," he bristled, trying his best not to come off too whiny. He relaxed when he heard her giggle, the first real laugh he had heard come from her mouth. It was soft and light, something akin to silver bells but much gentler.

"Well, maybe...try harder next time," she said it apologetically, like she didn't mean to tease him. He sat up straight, staring at her with an open mouth, and he leaned over with his good arm to gently shove her shoulder. She laughed again, trying to wave him off. "Stop! I'm trying to drive don't push me!"

"I open up to you-and you insult me!" He gently shoved her one last time for good measure, leaning back in his seat and trying to hide his grin when she laughed again. He decided he liked her laugh, enjoying her company when she was the playful Juvia, finding the hardass Juvia interesting, but much more scary.

She reached over with one hand to mess with the dial on the radio, switching it from one of his favourite songs to something bubby and repetitive. He smacked her hand away, fiddling with the plastic dial until it returned back to the station he previously had it on. Juvia made a noise of complaint, trying to push past his fingers and wrestle for the dial.

"That song sucked," he tried smacking her fingers away again, needing to sit up properly into a more aggressive position when she wasn't giving up.

"You're wrong, so jot that down," she gripped the dial firmly and turned it to the left, back to the station she had it on before.

"Please," he stared at her, horrified. "Learn to love yourself and get better taste in music."

She gave him a wounded look, lifting her elbow to try and block his advances. "I'm sorry, but that song was popular ten years ago and even then it was bad."

"It's a classic!"

"That's unfortunate," she batted his hand away one last time, changing the station again to something in between what they both wanted. It wasn't a great song, and definitely didn't hold up to the one he wanted, but it was a good compromise. He sat back dejectedly, fingers reaching up to his breast pocket for his smokes instinctively, before realizing he didn't have any.

"When are we gonna check on the girls?" He asked after a few moments of silence, glancing out the window again to get his mind off his cravings.

"As soon as I find a place to stop," Juvia turned down a dirt road lined with lush trees, the pavement disappearing beneath their tires and switching to a rougher terrain. "Maybe within the next few minutes."

He hummed thoughtfully, looking forward to when he was able to get out of the van and stretch his legs. They still had several hours of driving left to do, and he knew he and Juvia needed to switch off after their stop. He didn't mind driving, in fact he enjoyed it, but he wouldn't deny that he was still exhausted. He had lost more blood than he thought, and his muscles screamed in protest any time he shifted. He itched to go back home to his own bed, to be able to get a proper rest for the first time in two days.

* * *

Lucy was dreaming. At least, she hoped she was.

She was standing in a long hallway, the lights above were bright and hot above her head. They lit up most of the hallway in front of her, green walls and dark wooden floors stretched before her before they petered out into darkness. The silence was almost deafening, her heartbeat like a steady drumbeat in her ears; almost as loud as a rock concert.

She tried calling out, hearing the words echoing throughout the hallway and off into the endless void waiting down the hallway for her. She kept trying, taking steps forward in the hopes that she saw someone to help get her out of wherever she was. She walked, and walked and when it seemed like that was doing nothing and the hallway kept stretching out before her she began to ran.

She yelled, and then eventually she screamed. Loud and mournful; terrified and lonely. The more she shouted the less she felt like she heard, her pleas for help falling on her deaf ears as the drumbeat thrummed consistently. Her legs were starting to ache, the fatigue from not needing to use them much finally starting to set in, and eventually her muscles protested too much to allow her to move.

She stopped and leaned against a wall, panting heavily. Her mouth dried up, the taste of copper fresh on her tongue. Almost immediately, as soon as the dryness had been brought on, a fresh wetness appeared. Lucy felt around with her tongue and she was surprised to find a thick and heavy liquid pooling in her mouth. It had crawled up from the back of her throat and beat against her teeth and lips, fighting desperately to get out.

Eventually she couldn't hold onto it anymore and the liquid spilled out onto the ground around her. She reached up with her hands to wipe away liquid from her mouth and when she pulled her hands back they were dyed red. She screamed, but it was drowned out in the liquid and forced into a sickening sort of bubbling gasp. She reared back, her legs catching on something and she stumbled back.

She fell onto something hard, yet somehow squishy.

Scrambling to turn around, Lucy turned to look down at what she was sitting on. Below her, was a body. A male chest lay flat under her, long legs splayed out underneath her own. She drew her eyes up to look at the head, nearly choking when she came face to face with Bora.

Except, it wasn't him. Not really. The Bora she knew didn't have a gaping hole where one of his eyes was, and he most certainly didn't have half his skull missing at the back of his head. And yet, there he was, smiling up at her with that sickeningly little smirk he always had when something bad was going to happen to her.

"Hey, baby," he said it softly, honey-sweet and dripping with venom. Lucy watched, horrified, as worms and other bugs crawled out of his mouth when he opened it to speak. "Come to apologize?"

Lucy felt his hands come up and gently clasp either side of her hips, fingers firm and hard, like the rigor mortis had set in but not in its entirety.

"Bora…" she whispered, more thick, syrup-like blood spilling out of her mouth and colliding with his shirt. "You're dead."

"Only because you killed me," he said it nonchalantly, and suddenly the hallway began to shift. The lights overhead turned a deep red and began swinging violently, and Lucy turned her head to look behind her, and when she did she saw the darkness at the end of the hallway closing in on her rapidly, threatening to swallow her up and never let her go.

"No I didn't!" She shook her head, trying desperately to claw away from him. She knew she had to get up and run away from the darkness at the end of the hallway. It was getting closer by the second, and if it caught up to her she knew she would never be able to get away. She would die in that darkness, all alone.

"Oh, but yes you _did_ ," he purred, and suddenly they were standing on the swaying hallway. Bora held her close to his chest, a hand in her hair, petting her gently and cooing into her ear. His breath smelled like decay and rot, and Lucy felt a bug crawl against her skin.

The darkness reached them then, swallowing them up and engulfing them in something so black and sinister Lucy had lost all sense of time and reality. She felt like she was inside of that darkness for years; centuries maybe, the pitch blackness eating away at her sense of self was ease.

Eventually, a single light emerged above her, almost like a strobe light on a stage. Lucy looked around wildly for an exit, but all she saw was darkness. There wasn't a floor, or a ceiling, or walls, or at least, none that she could see.

After a moment, Bora appeared before her. His hole was gone, and so were the bugs and everything else. He looked normal again. Alive.

He sat on the floor of black before her, on his knees. He looked up at her, pleading and begging her for something but his words were silent. The drumbeat was too loud in her ears, and it blocked out any sound trying to weasel its way into her ears.

Lucy looked down at her hand when a sudden weight appeared. It was almost unnoticeable at first, like it belonged there but she had forgotten.

In her hand was a gun. The same gun she had picked up from Boras desk, and the same one she had shot him with. It was silver, with an engraving on the leathered handle, something pretty and script like that she couldn't read. The safety was switched off, and somewhere deep in the back of her brain she knew it was loaded.

She raised the gun and pointed it at Bora again, her arm moving on instinct before she could stop it. She looked at Bora again, and she could see him begging. He looked desperate, and scared, his beady eyes wide and full of tears. She watched him for a moment, trying to figure out what he was saying by reading his lips, before ultimately deciding she didn't care.

She took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger.

When Lucy had woken up, the back of the van was still pitch black. She could see the faintest sliver of light from between the crack in the two doors, but she still had no idea what time it was. Natsu was silent beside her, the rise and fall of his chest a flutter against her cheek while he breathed. His arm still rested along her shoulders, the skin of his fingers barely brushing against her bicep whenever either of them moved.

Her heart hammered against her chest, the drumbeat in her ears as deafening in real life as it was in her dream. Before she realized she was awake, she almost started screaming. That was the most horrible nightmare she had had in a long time, and she was desperate for it to end. Absently, she thought that's what hell felt like.

Lucy took a moment to adjust to the darkness. She could barely make out the shapes of the girls laying propped up around them, but she was glad she was able to wake up in a calm situation. She worried about the girls, hoping a few would start to rise from unconsciousness soon, so she was able to talk to them and give them some water.

She knew that she was using caring for the girls as an excuse to escape from her own head, but if it was keeping her sane in the moment then she would do what she had to do. Besides, she knew that Juvia was counting on her, and she didn't want to disappoint her. She owed that woman the rest of her life, and she would do anything she asked if it meant never having to go back to a life like the one she had just been rescued from.

Thinking of water, her tongue felt thick and heavy in her mouth. She sat up against Natsu, jostling him gently while she reached around blindly in the darkness for the flashlight Juvia had left them. She knew somewhere near her there was a small jug of water and she was desperate to find it.

"G'morning," Natsu murmured in her ear, his breath hot on her skin from the proximity. He sounded tired, though she wasn't sure if he had managed to fall asleep at all.

"Hey," she said breathlessly, pulling away from him when he removed his arm from her shoulders. Her fingers found purchase against the hard plastic of the flashlight, and she clicked the on button. Light erupted into the interior of the van, nearly blinding her in the process. "Jeez!" She flinched, pointing the light towards the ceiling.

Natsu snorted, watching her with amusement. "Sleep well?"

"I suppose," Lucy lied, praying that he couldn't tell she was doing so. "As well as I can get in a van, anyway. Did you sleep at all?"

"No," he said, stretching his arms out in front of him, and she caught him wince out of the corner of her eye, gingerly cradling his right arm after he was done.

"Are you hurt?" She asked after finding the jug of water she had been looking for, sitting back beside him and turning to look at him in concern.

"Nothing the doctor can't fix," he grinned at her, but she could tell it was forced. He had beads of sweat clinging to his forehead and his smile looked tight.

"Natsu…," she said gently, before she was cut off from one of the girls stirring.

Lucy and Natsu whipped their heads around to watch as one of the girls groaned quietly, her long eyelashes fluttering as she slowly rose to consciousness. She lifted a pale hand to her face, gripping her forehead in what Lucy had no doubt was a massive migraine. Lucy watched her with wide eyes, taking in her short light blue hair and warm brown eyes. Lucy recognized her as one of the girls who had come in to Boras "care" only a little while after she had.

"Yukino?" Lucy asked quietly, pushing her blanket aside and preparing herself to crawl across the van to the other girl.

"Lucy…?" Yukino squinted at her, turning her head to the side to look at Lucy from between her fingers. "Where are we?"

Lucy began crawling over to the girl, bracing herself any time they went over a bump. She dragged the jug of water with her, pulling it along the smooth metal of the van floor weakly. She was so undernourished that even dragging a three pound jug of water consumed most of her energy, feeling light headed once she crossed the distance over to Yukino.

"We're in a van headed for Magnolia," Lucy explained, twisting off the cap of the water bottle and lifting it to Yukino's lips. The girl leaned in eagerly, allowing Lucy to angle the opening into her mouth and let the clear liquid flow in. She took several long mouthfuls, a steady stream of water rolling down her chin from her desperation.

Yukino finally pulled back with a gasp after running out of air, lifting a hand to wipe her chin dry. "Thank you. Why Magnolia? Is Bora taking us there?"

"No," Lucy shook her head slightly, placing the jug of water down on the van floor and keeping a hand on it. "Bora is...gone. We were rescued by three people from Magnolia, and we're heading back there to talk to the police."

Yukino stared at Lucy in shock for a moment, a deep sense of disbelief was eminent in her eyes, but when Lucy nodded Yukino let out a choked sob. Relief, and maybe a little hope filled Yukino's eyes, and a steady flow of tears rolled off of her cheeks. Her shoulders shook as she lifted her hands to cover her mouth and sobbed into them.

Lucy reached over to place a hand on Yukino's shoulders, and Yukino threw her arms around Lucy and pulled her in for a hug. Yukino buried her face in the crook of Lucy's neck, sobbing against her skin. Lucy felt her own eyes well with tears, and she lifted her free hand up to rub against Yukino's hair gently.

"You mean it's all over?" Yukino asked after she had calmed down a moment later, pulling back and rubbing tears from her eyes.

"It's all over," Lucy promised, squeezing Yukino's hand.

"I'm so glad," Yukino sobbed out, more tears falling faster than she could brush them away.

Slowly, more of the girls started to wake up. Lucy greeted each one, bringing them water and crackers, explaining that they were finally free. The girls all began to cry together, cuddling up with one another and cheering and sobbing quietly. Lucy held onto them tightly whenever they hugged her, feeling the same sense of relief and freedom they did whenever she was able to break the news to them.

Lucy eventually crawled back to the back of the van after all the girls had calmed down, sitting and talking amongst themselves as they rose from consciousness. Lucy sat back next to Natsu, turning to smile at him when she did so. She found him already looking at her, a soft expression on his face.

"Yknow," she said quietly, leaning in to say it just low enough for him to hear. "We've all dreamed about this day. I think most of us gave up hope, but we really are safe."

He smiled at her, his expression warm.

"Lucy, who is that?" Yukino asked, staring at Natsu from where she sat. All the girls bristled, and Lucy saw a few of them glance at Natsu in fear. She understood why they felt that way, even though Natsu was the reason they were all safe. The deep rooted trust issues that had been born in each and every one of them from their time with Bora were more than likely never going to go away, at least, not for a long time.

"It's okay," Lucy said gently, regarding each of the girls with a smile. "This is Natsu. He is one of the biggest reasons why we're all safe right now. He's just here to help, you don't have to be afraid."

The girls relaxed, though a few still looked guarded. A few of the girls sobbed in relief, tears falling off their faces again. Several of the girls thanked Natsu, holding onto each other tightly.

Natsu only nodded, silent as he watched them celebrate amongst themselves.

Maybe twenty minutes had passed when the van eventually came to a stop. Lucy was unable to keep track of the time due to the lack of windows or watches in the van, so she had no idea if more or even less time had passed since she woke up. The girls fell silent as they all waited to see what was happening, the only sounds they heard were of car doors opening and closing after the ignition was cut off.

After a moment, the double doors to the back of the van were opened, and Juvia and Gray regarded everyone with wide eyes, both wearing sweaters Lucy didn't remember them having the last time she saw them. Behind them was a vast expanse of plush green field, and Lucy assumed they had stopped on farmland somewhere. She had no idea how far away or close to Magnolia they were, but wherever they were it was beautiful.

"You're all awake!" Juvia blinked at them, looking at each of the girls individually. "How do you all feel?"

The was a cacophony of answers as all the girls answered at once, the majority seeming to be asking for food. Juvia nodded in stunned silence, trying her best to keep track of what was being thrown at her. After a moment she turned towards Gray and grabbed the plastic bags from his hands and set them inside of the van.

"I have drinks and food, have as much as you want but try to save some since we have a long trip ahead of us," Juvia explained, taking a step back when the girls lunged for the bags, grabbing anything their fingers could reach and pulling them back to themselves protectively.

"Jesus," Lucy heard Gray mutter, and she stifled a laugh.

After a moment, Natsu slowly rose to his feet. He walked silently across the floor of the van and jumped out of the opening. Everyone turned to watch him as he took a few steps on plush green grass, before dropping down and lying on his back on the ground. He groaned loudly, and Gray kicked his boot gently, grinning at his partner.

Lucy, suddenly feeling very claustrophobic, slowly rose to her feet as well. She walked across the length of the van on shaky legs, still feeling the rattle of the metal in her bones from the long journey so far. She reached down into one of the bags and pulled out a small bag of beef jerky and a bottle of water, holding on to it as she jumped out of the van.

"How do you feel?" Juvia asked, concern clear on her face as Lucy landed next to her.

"Good," Lucy said with a smile, actually being honest for once. "I feel really good!"

Juvia returned her smile warmly, reaching up to pat Lucy's back affectionately. Lucy stepped away after, taking several steps along the grass. She wiggled her bare toes in the plush greenery, enjoying the way the rubbery texture of the grass felt against her skin. She tilted her head back to stare at the sky, overcast with spots of blue, and took in a deep breath of fresh air.

The farmland smelled like trees, maybe pine or even oak. It smelled like the plush grass under her feet, and the sweet scent of a nearby rain. It smelled faintly like manure, and even that was beautiful to her in the moment.

For months she had smelled fish and sea salt, constantly being surrounded by the scent of Hargeons port. For months she smelt sweat, and blood and a broad range of colognes that would only make her sick if she ever smelled them again. For months she smelled dirty sheets and stale air, and burnt food.

It hit her, suddenly, that this was all over. She had taken her first real steps as a free woman, out into the beautiful open world she had all but forgotten had existed. The air was clearer than she had ever thought was possible, washing away the toxic fumes from Hargeon's city life and the smell of salt water from her nose she hoped to never smell again. A gentle breeze blew around her, nipping at her exposed skin and raising gooseflesh in its wake. She had wanted to laugh at the feeling, the general ambiance of the farmland bringing out the first real feeling of true joy she had felt in months.

Instead of laughing, however, she began to sob. Tears rolled off her cheeks, hot and heavy against her skin and rolling all the way down her face before collecting at her jawline and dripping onto her chest. Sobs bubbled out from her throat, clawing their way up from deep in her gut before releasing into the wind. She couldn't hold them back anymore, her feelings becoming beasts in her body that felt too confined in their cages and forced their way out. She wasn't sure she wanted to stop them, as with each sob she felt a little better. A little lighter perhaps, and definitely a lot freer.

She cried for her past self, the girl she didn't know. She cried for the girl who had gone through so much in the past few months, the very few memories she had more horrific than anything she could have described. She cried for the memories she didn't remember, and the potential family she had waiting somewhere for her. She cried for her interests, hobbies and friends she may have but were buried down somewhere at the back of her mind underneath a mountain of trauma. She cried for her present self, the girl she was forced to become. She cried for the shake of her arms when she held the gun, and she cried for girls she had to take care of, before she allowed herself to grieve everything that had been taken from her. And finally, she cried for her future self, the girl she was going to become. She cried for the hobbies she was going to have, and the friends she was going to make, and the memories she was going to hold on to.

Eventually her legs began to quake, and then altogether buckled under her. She fell to her knees on the ground, the soft feeling of dirt and grass scraping against her flesh when she fell. Her shoulders slumped forward, the water bottle and bag of beef jerky falling to the ground on either side of her as her limbs felt too weak to support anything else. She kept her face angled towards the sky as she continued to sob. Her body rocked and trembled, but she wasn't scared. For the first time in months she wasn't scared, and she had hope.

She had hope that today was going to be the beginning of a brighter future, one where she was never going to be scared ever again.

* * *

 **A/n: hey guys! Sorry this chapter is so late, last week I had the flu and then over the weekend I was babysitting my nephew and got home suuuuuuper late so this update is a few hours later than I would have liked to have posted it. I'm terribly sorry, but thank you guys so much for your patience. I know I pm'd all the people who left reviews that I was able to reply to (sorry guest reviewers) and y'all were so incredibly kind and understanding, thank you so much !**

 **As always, thank you so much for your alerts/favs/reviews, you guys are so fantastic. I wish I could thank guest reviewers personally via pm but unfortunately ff doesn't let me :/. But guys ! We reached our goal! Thank you! If we reach 60 reviews there will be a preview of the 7th chapter at the end of the 6th next week ! So please leave a review telling me your thoughts on this weeks chapter :)**

 **as promised, here's next weeks preview:**

"I should probably call Jellal," he said it quietly, shoving his hands into the deep pockets of the too large sweater. "And you should look over those girls."

"Yeah," Juvia nodded hesitantly, taking a deep breath and steeling herself, willing the tears to go back into her body. He stifled a laugh as he watched her, finding her ability to press on even in emotional situations somehow endearing.

He stared at her for a moment, searching the plains of her face. She was staring at the ground, her nose scrunching slightly in concentration as she tried to compose herself in a confident and calm manner. The wetness in her eyes faded, though a tinge of red dusted her cheeks. He felt himself relax as he watched her, something about watching the way she formed a metaphorical mask for her face cathartic. He had had plenty of practise in his life doing the same.


	6. Bond

Everyone was silent as Lucy cried, the entire group turning to look at her in surprise when she began sobbing. Gray felt pity and empathy swirl in his stomach as he watched her fall to the ground, not even able to imagine how she must have been feeling at that moment. He glanced at Juvia, the girl watching Lucy with a concerned expression, though he noted her gaze looking wet, like she was trying to hold back her own tears. He took a step closer to her, leaning over to bump their shoulders together, shaking his head gently at Juvia when she looked up at him. This was something Lucy needed to do and go through on her own, and they should be respectful and turn away.

"I should probably call Jellal," he said it quietly, shoving his hands into the deep pockets of the too large sweater. "And you should look over those girls."

"Yeah," Juvia nodded hesitantly, taking a deep breath and steeling herself, willing the tears to go back into her body. He stifled a laugh as he watched her, finding her ability to press on even in emotional situations somehow endearing.

He stared at her for a moment, searching the plains of her face. She was staring at the ground, her nose scrunching slightly in concentration as she tried to compose herself in a confident and calm manner. The wetness in her eyes faded, though a tinge of red dusted her cheeks. He felt himself relax as he watched her, something about watching the way she formed a metaphorical mask for her face cathartic. He had had plenty of practise in his life doing the same.

"Tell him to meet us at the hospital," Juvia broke the silence between them after a moment, turning back to look at him almost expressionlessly. "These girls are very weak, and they still might have some drugs in their systems. I want to get them tested and on saline, and have them be able to rest in a bed."

"Yes ma'am," he said, one corner of his mouth tugging up gently. "Let me know whenever you're ready to go."

She nodded before turning and climbing into the van, introducing herself to the girls. He watched her for a moment, as she helped several of the girls take drinks of water and bites of food when their limbs failed them. She cleaned them with a wet cloth to the best of her ability, and gave them as warm of a smile as she could have mustered. Absently, he thought that taking care of people suited her, coming to the conclusion that her personality was a lot softer than she initially let on.

He turned away to glance down at Natsu, his partner lying on his back in the grass, eyes transfixed on the overcast sky ahead. Natsu worked his jaw for a moment, his eyebrows knitting together in thought. Gray used to tease him back when they were younger that his thinking face made him look constipated, which to this day he insisted was still true.

"Hey," Gray said, reaching out with his foot and gently bumping his shoe with Natsu's. "I'm gonna go call Jellal, wanna come?"

Natsu hummed for a moment before sitting up, rubbing the back of his head. "Why not?" He asked rhetorically, holding out his uninjured arm for Gray to help him up.

It was awkward to help him as both of their right arms were wounded. When Gray offered his left and Natsu rose, they ended up standing beside each other looking like they were holding hands. They glanced down at their connected hands before looking at each other, Gray looking apprehensive and Natsu looking teasing.

"Oh Gray, not in front of the girls you sly dog," Natsu winked, squeezing Gray's hand for good measure.

"Fuck off," Gray slapped his hand away before stomping off towards the front of the van, Natsu's laughter ringing in his ears and fuelling the heat crawling up his neck.

Natsu trailed after him after a moment of self indulgent laughter, stopping next to Gray at the hood of the van and leaning against it beside him. Gray fished out his cell phone from the pocket of his pants, scrolling through his contacts before finding Jellals name. He pressed the call button and put the phone on speaker, lowering the volume so it was only able to be heard between the two of them.

"Hello?" Jellal asked after the second ring, his voice already tense like he was expecting the worst.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Gray started, turning to look at Natsu and sharing a shit-eating grin. "I'm looking to hire three girls for later tonight. Sexiest ones you've got. I'll spare no expense, it's for my buddy's bachelor party."

"Oh, you and Natsu are getting married? Finally," Jellal sounded bored, and Gray imagined him rolling his eyes.

"I wish," Natsu cut in before Gray could respond, biting back a laugh. "He's not a One Guy type of man. He's breaking my heart, Jellal."

"Ah well," Jellal sighed out, his words sounding slightly muffled around what Gray could only assume was a cigarette. His cravings came back at full force, his fingers twitching for the feeling of a cigarette between them. "Love is fickle, as they say."

"Look at you, so full of sage-like wisdom," Gray snorted, shoving his free hand into his pocket to try and will away his cravings. "What fortune cookie did you get that one from?"

"That's from real life experience, pretty boy," Jellal said, amusement in his tone. "Next time I'll charge you for any advice, so don't be a prick. Anyway, what's the news boys? Something good, I hope."

"Your Juvia's one tough nut," Gray said, leaning his back against the hood of the van and crossing one ankle over the other. Beside him, Natsu nodded in agreement, though Jellal couldn't see him.

"She's not _my_ anything," Jellal said, sounding annoyed. The mention of women always brought out the worst in Jellal, his love life over complicated and tiresome. "How is she? Anything bad happen?"

Natsu and Gray looked at each other, shrugging simultaneously.

"Nah, I think she's fine," Natsu spoke up, rubbing the back of his neck. "She kicked some ass last night, thoughh."

"She always does," Jellal replied, sounding unfazed. "How are the other girls? All fine?"

"Alive and doing well," Gray took over, tilting his head back to stare at the sky. "As well as they can be, given the circumstances."

"Is that crying I hear in the background? What the _fuck_ is going on?" The chief sounded alarmed, his words picking up as what Gray could only chalk up to as panic set in.

"It's a good kind of cry," Natsu spoke up, looking down at the ground and scuffing his foot along the tips of the grass. "She's just getting it out."

Jellal sighed, and Gray pictured him pinching the bridge of his nose like he always did when he tried to calm down. "Fine, as long as they're all safe," Jellal said finally, sounding tired. "How long do you think it will take to get back here? Also, you don't sound like you're on a train. It's too quiet. Where the fuck are you?"

Natsu looked at Gray, quirking a brow. Truth be told Gray wasn't entirely sure, he never saw the town that Juvia had stopped to get gas in. His guess was as good as any, until he looked at a map.

"Few hours, maybe," Gray shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure, I wasn't driving. We ended up taking a van from Hargeon. Unmarked, nothing flashy. Easier to transport all the girls since they're too drugged up to walk. Also, Juvia told me to pass along a message, she said to meet us at the hospital. Maybe ready a private room for these girls."

"Smart move, just make sure you weren't followed. And I'm already on it," Jellal said, and Gray heard him blow smoke after, and jealousy spiked through him. "Be safe on the road."

"Yes sir," Gray and Natsu said in unison, smirking at each other when Jellal groaned before hanging up on them.

The partners sat in silence for several moments, the only sounds around them were of the wind rushing through the trees and the low murmurs of the girls in the van talking, and Lucy's sobs slowly petering out.

As they sat there, Gray thought about all the jobs he had been on with Natsu over the years. Whether it was something random in town, or a job for the syndicate, or a favour from Jellal, nothing had ever come remotely close to this. The pure amount of evil that happened to these girls was something he had spent all night thinking about, and he was sure he was going to lose countless hours of sleep over it in coming days. Gray felt sick whenever he thought of the previous nights events, relieved that they got out of there no worse for wear, but disgusted that such a mission even had to happen in the first place. He thought that the seedy underbelly of Magnolia had been bad, but by god had he been naive.

"Do you think this was all because of Ivan?" Natsu asked quietly, scuffing his foot against the grass again and sounding bitter.

Gray sighed, reaching his good hand up to rub the back of his neck. "I don't know. The Straigos house works directly under Ivan's, so I guess it makes sense."

"Did Heartfilia not know about it, though?" Natsu shook his head, and Gray could see his fingers curl into a fist by his sides. "Isn't he supposed to be in charge of that area? Aren't the Four Fathers supposed to be helping the people of their territory?"

"Everyone knows that Heartfilia is going corporate," Gray said, dropping his hand back down to his side. "He's more concerned with his fancy railway than he is the tiny houses that are sneaky about what they do. I honestly don't know if Ivan knew about what Bora was doing, but knowing the guy I wouldn't be surprised. I would be surprised if Heartfilia was condoning it, he doesn't seem the type."

"I hate knowing Ivan is related to Gramps," Natsu sighed out, voice bitter. "That scumbag should have never been born."

Gray hummed thoughtfully, placing his hands back into his pockets. He clenched and unclenched his hands, trying to will away the want of a cigarette. He knew his habit was more of an addiction, but he'd be damned to admit that in front of anyone else.

"Well, without Ivan, Laxus wouldn't exist," Gray said, throwing a teasing sideways glance at Natsu out of the corner of his eyes. "And we all know you're just a little bit in love with him."

"I am _not_ ," Natsu denied, his cheeks tinging red. "I just think he's pretty cool."

"Mhm," Gray hummed a sound of disbelief, snorting when Natsu bumped him with his hip.

They stood in silence for another few moments, Lucy's sobs having completely disappeared at that point. The only thing Gray could hear was the occasional breeze through the trees, the branches and leaves swaying rhythmically. The area was so serene and peaceful it almost felt like a dream. If he hadn't experienced the night before he almost would have chalked it up to a nightmare.

Next to him, Natsu suddenly doubled over, clutching his face with his hand. A pained noise escaped his mouth, and his face contorted with agony. Gray watched as Natsu swayed in place, before slumping to his knees and fisting at his hair.

"Another migraine?" Gray asked, watching him in worry. He knew it was useless, there was nothing he could do to help Natsu in the moment. His blinding migraines were an occasional thing that happened to him, something the good Doctor Porlyusica had chalked up to 'Twilight nonsense'.

Natsu choked out another agonized sound, falling forward onto his good hand onto the grass. Gray noticed beads of sweat forming on his forehead, and his whole body started trembling slightly. Natsu was used to pain; they both were from the amount of trouble they had gotten into as kids. However, to have something have such an impact on him to give such a visceral reaction, Gray couldn't even imagine the amount of pain he was in.

"Lie on the ground, man," Gray said, squatting down beside his friend and offering his good arm to help him down. Natsu collapsed in a heap on the grass, rolling onto his back and throwing his good arm over his eyes. His breathing was laboured, the breaths coming shakily out of his trembling mouth.

" _Fuck_ ," Natsu hissed out quietly, choking and coughing after a moment.

"Do they ever get any easier?" Gray asked, sitting down next to his partner.

"No," Natsu answered after a moment, taking slow heavy breaths. "I think they get worse, actually."

That surprised him. Gray didn't know much about Twilight's even though he knew more than a few, but he hadn't heard many cases of compensations getting worse with time. The thought alone worried him, and he filed away in the back of his brain to talk to Porlyusica about it the next time he saw her.

"Jesus," Gray sighed out, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. "Have you talked to your dad about it?"

"No," Natsu said, and Gray noticed his breathing start to regulate. He still sounded pained, but slightly less so. "He's always busy."

"So call him and leave a fuckin' message. Jesus do I have to spell everything out for you?" Gray rolled his eyes, sticking his leg out to kick Natsu's thigh when his partner snorted.

"It's adorable when you aggressively care," Natsu teased, a faint grin upturning his mouth.

"Fuck off," Gray said quietly, frustrated that he was so transparent.

He and Natsu had known each other a long time. Almost too long for Gray to keep track of, the years blurring together over time. They had originally hated each other the moment they met, but over time they had formed a sort of mutual understanding that formed into friendship. There wasn't anybody on the planet Gray was closer with than Natsu, and because of that they were able to see right through each other. Sometimes it was inconvenient, like right then when Gray was trying to play off his worry, and other times it was not.

They lapsed back into a companionable silence, Gray choosing not to keep a conversation going due to the fact that it seemed to take up a lot of Natsu's energy to respond. The faster Natsu felt better the faster they could pack up and leave. Gray wanted to get back into Magnolia soon, itching to sleep in his own bed and get these girls to proper safety. He felt bad having to make those girls stay in a dark, cramped van for several hours, but it was going to be worth it in the end.

Eventually, Natsu's breathing returned to normal, the rise and fall of his chest rhythmic and calm. He wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his arm, opening his eyes to stare at the cloudy sky. The air had turned humid and Gray knew a storm was approaching, giving him even more incentive to want to get back on the road. Driving in rain wasn't too hard, depending on the intensity, but if there was a storm he would rather spend the least amount of time in it as possible.

"We should probably get going," Gray said, rising to his feet and brushing grass and dirt from his pants.

Natsu made a noise of agreement and accepted Gray's outstretched hand when it was offered. He made no comment at the awkwardness of the touch this time, and Gray noted how exhausted he looked. Natsu was known for crashing hard after overdosing, and Gray wasn't sure if he was even able to get any sleep in the van. That, on top of the migraine, must have depleted what little energy he had left.

They walked back around to the back of the van, Natsu's movements slightly sluggish behind Gray. When they rounded the corner, Gray saw Lucy sitting in the spot they had left her in, staring up at the sky silently. He hesitated in front of the van doors, wondering if he should go over and talk to her or get Juvia to do it.

Before he could make the decision, Natsu had walked over to her. Gray watched in both surprise and intrigue as Natsu reached down to place a hand on Lucy's shoulder. The girl jumped at the touch before relaxing when she turned to look at his face. They spoke for a moment, too low and far away for Gray to hear, before Natsu offered his good arm to help her stand. She accepted, grabbing her half eaten food from where it sat beside her, and rose. She stumbled a bit and Natsu caught her, and she leant on him as they walked back over to the van.

One of the things Gray liked most about Natsu was how kind he could be. Gray, though having gotten much better over the years, was considered to be a rather cold or disconnected person. He had his own moral compass that he followed, and generally tried to do what was right, but he was always standoffish and found it hard to get close to people. Natsu, on the other hand, was able to connect with people easily. He never let the prejudice people had for Twilight's stop him from trying to reach out. He crushed personal boundaries easily, and he apparently had done it again with Lucy. Gray wasn't sure if he admired that about him or was jealous of it. Honestly it was maybe a bit of both.

He watched the two of them walk back over to the van, stopping in front of him. Lucy kept her head lowered, glancing up at him through her lashes. She looked embarrassed, her pale cheeks tinged with a light red.

"Sorry about that," she said sheepishly, reaching up to rub the back of her neck.

"Don't worry about it," he shook his head at her, expression softening. "It's good that you were able to get it out."

She nodded, lifting her head a little higher. Natsu helped her into the van and he followed her to the very back. They plopped down next to each other, Lucy wrapping herself up in a blanket and offering some of her beef jerky to Natsu.

"Ready to go?" Juvia asked, watching him from where she sat in front of a group of girls.

"Yeah, we should head out as fast as we can, I think a storm is coming," he glanced up at the sky, watching the clouds slowly begin to darken and swirl amongst themselves.

"Alright," Juvia stood, dusting herself off before turning to address everyone in the van. "We're going to start driving now, we should be in Magnolia soon. Try to rest if you can, and don't eat everything right away, there's still a few hours of driving left."

There was a murmur of agreement amongst the girls, the ones holding food putting it away for the moment. Juvia jumped out of the back of the van, landing easily on her feet beside Gray. The two of them reached for a door to the van each and closed them tight.

"You need rest as well," Gray said, turning his head to look at her. The bags under her eyes were heavier than he last noticed them, and her eyes were starting to droop more. She looked ready to drop at any moment, though she was playing it off well.

"I'm fine," she shook her head, taking a step in the direction of the drivers' side of the van.

He reached out a hand to stop her, reflexively using his right arm because it was his dominant, and trying to stifle the wince from the pain he felt shoot through his body. He had been shot plenty of times before, but that didn't mean the pain ever got easier. If anything, he was just glad he hadn't gotten stabbed. That pain hurt way more than any bullet, and arguably was much more dangerous depending on how much one bled from it.

"Stop arguing with me about this," he shook his head once, tone of his voice final. His fingers were firm against her wrist, but gentle, wanting to stop her but not hurt her. "You need to sleep. We only have a few hours left, like you said. I'll be fine until then."

She stared at him for a moment in silence, trying to read his face. When it was apparent he wasn't going to back down, she sighed. "Fine, but don't push yourself," was all she said, taking her hand back and walking towards the side of the passenger seat.

He snorted, watching her go. Before, he had assumed she was gruff because she was cold, but he could tell it was really the side of her that cared enough about others that stood out the most. Like him, she tried to play off her feelings in stressful situations. If he hadn't been shot, he wasn't so sure she would have been trying to push him on this as often as she had. He appreciated it, but he knew when to call it quits and when to press forward.

Shaking his head, he turned around and walked towards the drivers side. He slid into his seat with ease and adjusted the mirrors and steering wheel placement to his preferences. It was annoying to have to keep switching them whenever they took turns driving, but he was glad he didn't have to drive the whole way by himself. He wouldn't admit it aloud, but he was exhausted. A few hours of driving he could do, but if it came to the full thing he definitely couldn't promise not putting them in a ditch.

Juvia pulled out a map from the glove box beside him, stretching it out on the dashboard so he could see. She stared at it for a moment, eyebrows knitting together in thought. She eventually pointed to a very thin line on the map, almost imperceptible.

" _This_ is where we are, and _this_ ," she dragged her finger along the line and onto another heading north. "Is where we need to go. I think we should stick to the back roads as much as possible."

"Agreed," he nodded, studying the map for a moment to try and get his bearings. If he drove fast enough, even on the back roads they would be able to get to Magnolia within three hours.

Juvia folded up the map when he turned back to the front, turning the ignition and pulling out of park. They peeled away from their spot hidden behind a thin line of trees, pulling back onto the road they came from. Slowly, rain started splattering against the windshield, blurring his field of vision the harder it fell.

He noticed Juvia curl up in the spot next to him, pulling her legs up to her chest and staring out the window. Her eyes looked far away, and he noticed her rubbing a hand slowly up and down one of her calves, guessing she was cold. He turned the heat up higher, and his thick fleece sweater started to make him sweat.

"Hold the wheel for me for one second," he said, moving a hand up to unzip his sweater. She did, reaching over and placing a hand on the wheel and trying to hold it steady while he removed the garment. "Here," he said, throwing the sweater over her legs. "I'm pretty hot already, so use it like a blanket."

She removed her hand from the steering wheel when he placed his back on it. She leaned back in her seat, fixing the sweater so it draped over her legs, and curled in on herself more. Her eyes were drooping so much she looked like she couldn't fight sleep any more, and it looked like it took all of her remaining energy to open her mouth to speak.

"Are you sure?" She asked, sounding apprehensive.

"Yeah," he nodded, and then flashed her a quick grin. "Plus, you're kind of in a really short skirt _so_ …"

He laughed when she gasped, and she pulled the sweater over her legs more.

The rain started falling down harder, splattering against the roof and drowning the windshield. He turned on the wiper blades, finding the rhythmic motion of the rubber cleaning the glass soothing. He felt himself relax, humming along with the radio quietly. Eventually, Juvia gave into sleep and lay curled up next to him, at one point she kicked past her duffel bag and pressed one of her feet against his thigh while she slept. He decided to leave her there, finding the warmth against his thigh somewhat comforting.

As he drove, the rain brought back memories from his teenage years. He and Natsu had snuck out, stealing the key to Natsu's fathers beat up truck and taking it on a joyride. It had been storming pretty badly that night, heavy rain and fog making it almost impossible for Gray to see as he drove. Natsu wasn't much help either, the car ride putting him out of commission as he begged for Gray to find somewhere to pull over.

Gray had misjudged a turn that night, the road slick and the truck moving a little too fast. He had accidentally brought them off road, rolling down a small hill and straight into the trunk of a tree. They had totalled the front end of the truck, and broke the axle underneath. It was impossible to drive and at 2 or 3 in the morning, they were stranded.

Natsu only laughed after his stomach settled, finding their misfortune hilarious. Gray wasn't sure if he appreciated or hated that Natsu found it so easy to brush off unfortunate circumstances. He always chalked it up to an idiot's way of dealing with things, and honestly, he wasn't wrong.

They had spent a few hours in the car waiting for the storm to pass, trading stories and joking around. The two of them had come from very separate backgrounds, and even their personalities were conflicting, but they were able to find an understanding in each other. Gray wasn't sure if it was because he was one of the few people who hadn't treated Natsu differently for being a Twilight, or just because they naturally clicked. They had their spats, sure, but at the end of the day a quick clock to each other's jaws and everything was right as rain the next morning. There hadn't been anything so bad they weren't able to get past it.

Gray remembered with a smile how that night had ended. They had called Jellal, pulling him out of bed at 5 in the morning to come pick them up. He showed up half an hour later, looking tired and pissed off, but still brought coffee and breakfast from a drive-thru for them. When they explained that they had stolen the car to go meet girls, Jellal had laughed, more at them than with them, and ultimately forgave them.

The partners still got into trouble and did stupid things as they grew older, but everything was a lot more dangerous as time went on. When they had made the decision to join Makarov's syndicate together, things only went downhill in terms of misfortune. Even when they were being hazed into the syndicate they had fucked up on their job pretty badly, but Laxus took pity on them and agreed to let them join if they were his personal slaves for a month.

It was only after that time had passed that someone had told them that Laxus didn't have the authority to let them in or out, and Makarov had given the ok from the very first day. When confronted about it, Laxus had only laughed. Natsu was angry about it for all of ten minutes before Laxus bought him a drink and they wrestled after getting thoroughly intoxicated. After that night Natsu grew to idolize Laxus and his strength (after promptly getting his ass kicked) and they had become friends, or something akin to it. Gray thought the guy was a stuck up prick, but he couldn't deny he was kind of cool.

Although there was a vast number of times throughout their shared years that Gray was able look back on and laugh at their stupidity, there were also times that he'd rather forget. Or, rather, there were times that they were exposed to something they knew would change them, at least slightly. After joining the syndicate, both boys had to become accustomed to a new way of life. They could act carefree on their spare time, but when Makarov said jump they jumped. Natsu adjusted easier than Gray, having become accustomed to being seen differently by non-Twilight's as well as having a father who worked for the syndicate already. Gray stumbled head first into everything, and got very good at creating a mask to hide his emotions very quickly. If his stomach wasn't as strong as it was, he would have quit a long time ago.

However, looking back on it all, Gray was glad that the person he had gone through all these experiences with had been Natsu. There were very few people Gray trusted on the planet, and even less so with his life. Natsu, though an irrational idiot with a slightly worrying addiction to fighting (and pills), happened to be one of those people. He had proven himself time and time again to have Gray's back, and in return Gray had his. It was an unspoken rule between them, that whenever they needed each other, no matter the issue, they were there for each other.

As he drove the through the pounding rain, reminiscing and humming along to the radio, it never crossed his mind how true that last statement was going to be in the coming months.

* * *

 **A/n: hhhhhhgh guys I thought today was Monday I'm sorry this is late! I've been super frazzled recently as I've been crazy busy with personal things as well as preparing for a trip out of the country in a few weeks. I don't know if any of you are heading to Sacanime but I'll be there this year! Message me if you're going maybe we can say hi or something :).**

 **Anyway, this was the first chapter concentrated on one POV, which will actually happen a lot throughout the story. I like bouncing between characters but sometimes it's nice to a have a solid point of view every once in awhile, don't you think? Also I loved writing about Natsu and Grays past, I'm looking forward to writing a bit more about that later.**

 **Thank you all so much to everyone who reviewed! To those who logged in to do so, I will be messaging you as soon as this is posted! To the guest reviewers: thank you! I'm sorry I can't thank you personally! And thanks to all the new follows/favs! Hope everyone liked this chapter :). We didn't reach our goal so there's no preview of chapter 7 but if we reach 60 reviews by next week there will be a new preview at the end of the next chapter. As always, please fav/follow/review and I'll see you all next week! Thanks for sticking with me 3**


	7. Changing unchanging

Jellal, like always, was tired. He hadn't slept a wink since sending Natsu and Gray off on that mission, too anxious to even take a nap. He knew what he did was risky, but with all of Juvia's teammates away on missions there wasn't anyone he trusted enough to do the job properly. He hadn't wanted to turn to Gray and Natsu, but he knew they were capable enough to handle it with at least some grace. However, if anyone found out what he had done he more than likely would have been fired. Or maybe killed, if Makarov wanted it to happen that way.

His fingers holding his lighter trembled as he reached up to light the tail end of a cigarette. He inhaled on the filter, pulling the heat through the cigarette so it gained a slow burn. The smoke filled his mouth and he brought it in deeper until he felt the familiar sting in his throat down to his lungs. He blew out, removing the cigarette with his free hand, glancing around the parking lot of the hospital.

He was leaning against a pillar under a cement awning near the back of the hospital. A private entrance used mostly for staff. He had staff waiting on standby around him, stretchers and wheelchairs parked in front of them in case it was needed. The less public this whole ordeal was going to be, the better for him.

He glanced down at his wristwatch, the face reading 12:30, close to the time he expected the boys to arrive. He wasn't sure what van to be looking for, but he texted Gray where to meet him when he arrived at the hospital to set things up. He already wanted the day to be over, having already gotten yelled at by several of his employees and a few ambulance drivers for wasting their time sending them to the train station for no reason earlier that morning. It wasn't his fault the boys changed the fucking plan without telling him, and he refused to apologize for it.

He took another drag of his cigarette, letting the smoke sit in his lungs for longer this time before blowing out. He watched it leave his mouth, rising into the afternoon air and disappearing without a trace, leaving only the smell behind. As he watched it float up, he stared at the overcast sky, wondering if the rain was going to come back again. It had been raining on and off all morning, the air thick and full of moisture.

A few minutes went by before a large utility van pulled up at the curb. Jellal ordered everyone forward, nurses and paramedics rushing forward with their equipment. Someone threw open the back doors to the van, and in a flurry several girls were being lifted out and placed on wheelchairs and a few on the available stretchers. Jellal watched a few get wheeled past him into the hospital before turning to watch as Gray slipped out of the drivers side.

Jellal nodded to him as he approached, glancing at him up and down and raising an eyebrow at the much-too-large sweater that said Sal's Gas on the front.

"New wardrobe?" He asked, snorting.

"I call it On The Road Chic," Gray said, pulling at the front of the sweater loosely. "Can I have a smoke? I ran out last night."

Jellal wordlessly offered him one, lighting the end for him as Gray reached over. Jellal pocketed his things, watching Gray visibly relax as he inhaled the smoke. He wanted to ask for the full run down, but he knew he was going to have to wait for a more private time.

"Chief," Juvia said, rounding the opposite end of the van. He nodded at her and she nodded back, before they both turned to watch the rest of the girls get wheeled away.

"Juvia?" One of the girls said, a blonde who had been placed into a wheelchair. She looked nervous, reaching out for Juvia's hand.

"You'll be fine, they're going to take care of you," Juvia said softly, taking the girl's hand and squeezing it. "I'll come up to visit later after you've had some rest."

The girl nodded, turning to look into the back of the van and waving half heartedly at someone inside before she was carted away.

Jellal raised a brow and leant to the side to peer into the van. He saw Natsu slowly starting to rise, looking exhausted and green in the face. Jellal felt a little bad he had to spend so much time in a van, but he wasn't going to let Natsu know that. The stupid kid would just lord it over his head forever, and he really didn't need that right now.

After a few moments, Jellal was finally left alone with Gray, Natsu and Juvia. He looked over each one of them, both of the boys seeming to be favouring their right arms, though trying to play it off. They all looked tired, like they hadn't slept in days.

"Everything looks like it went well," Jellal said, sounding impressed. He wasn't surprised, but he expected them to be more hurt.

"Are you _nuts_?" Juvia rounded on him, all the exhaustion gone from her face as anger replaced it. She pointed a finger at him, her eyebrows drawn down and eyes full of fire. She lowered her voice to a whisper yell, so as not to be overheard. "What the hell were you _thinking_ hiring these two?"

Jellal blinked at her, surprised that she would get angry at him like this. Juvia was usually known for being the most complacent of her team, and the kindest. He didn't think there was a time in all the years they had worked together that she had ever yelled at him. If anyone, she tended to save that tone of voice for Gajeel, but that was because they were partners and best friends.

"Well I was _thinking_ that there was no one else available who was qualified for the situation," Jellal shrugged, lifting his cigarette to his lips.

"You almost started a _war_ ," she lowered her voice more at the last word, glancing around for anyone in the parking lot.

"But I didn't," he said, watching her with tired eyes.

She sighed, dropping her shoulders and running a hand down her face before regarding him more calmly. "But you _could_ have. _That's_ why I'm angry."

"Everything went fine," Natsu spoke up from where he stood next to Gray, watching the scene uncomfortably. "Gray and I aren't so stupid as to have walked in blind. We made sure no one saw us and those who _did_ didn't make it out alive."

Juvia shook her head, pulling hair behind her ear after she was done. "That's not the point. I'm not mad at you guys, I'm mad at him."

"Juvia," Jellal's voice turned serious. "Your team was away in different parts of the continent. I had no one else here trained enough on discrete missions, and I had no time to brief them on how to do things properly. Your shithead _partner_ called me yesterday morning to say he wasn't going to make it. I had no one else I could rely on doing the job properly, except these two. If they died it was one Twilight and a syndicate member. No one would have blinked."

She winced, and regret turned in his stomach.

"Sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean that."

"We know you would have missed us, Cupcake," Gray said teasingly, patting a hand on Jellal's shoulder.

"Is that what you want to call it?" Jellal asked sarcastically, shrugging off Gray's hand and taking another puff of his cigarette. They were all quiet for a moment, everyone visibly relaxing as the realization that the mission was over finally hit them.

"You should all get some rest," Jellal finally broke the silence, dropping the tail end of his cigarette to the ground and grinding it into the concrete with his shoe. "I've got everything from here. Juvia you can get started on your report tomorrow."

"I don't know what any of those girls are going to tell you," Juvia said after a moment, meeting Jellal's gaze with an emotionless stare. "But I was the one who killed Bora. That's what I'll be writing in my report."

He looked at her, trying to read the plains of her face and gauge any answers to the silent questions he was asking. He knew she was warning him ahead of time to not poke his nose where it didn't belong. She was protecting someone, a habit of hers that was either her strongest asset or biggest weakness. For the moment, he couldn't tell which.

He gave up, nodding with a sigh. The look she had given him was a silent ' _trust me_ ' and over the years he had learned to do just that. It didn't really matter to him who had killed that giant piece of shit, as long as it got done. However, if any of the higher ups had found out it was someone without a license to kill they could have been tried for murder, as unjust as that would have been. Jellal had his suspicions that it was one of the girls, and they had been through enough. As far as he was concerned they were asleep during the whole thing.

"You were the _only_ one fighting," he said, staring at her and ignoring the two boys next to him. If she was covering for someone else, then she might as well cover for him, too. "Right?"

"Right," Juvia nodded, understanding what he was saying.

"Here," Jellal produced a single car key from the pocket of his pants, handing it to Juvia. "I brought my personal car with me. Drop these boys off wherever they need to go, and get yourself home. Take it to work tomorrow and I'll get it from there. I'm probably spending the night here to make sure everything goes smoothly."

"What's going to happen to those girls once this is all over?" Natsu spoke up, his voice quiet. Jellal looked at him in surprise, knowing Natsu tended to care about others but not usually when it came to missions. As long as he and Gray got their money and the job was complete, they turned a blind eye to whatever happened next. It was a way to protect themselves, as getting attached to others in their line of work usually turned out badly.

"Depends on the girl," Jellal shrugged. "If they have homes to go back to we'll escort them there. If they don't we'll put them in a women's shelter in town. What happens after that is entirely up to them. It's best not to worry yourself over it."

Natsu glared at the ground in response, looking like he wanted to argue but knowing there wasn't a point to it.

"Alright, we should head out before anyone sees us," Juvia said, glancing between the two syndicate members uneasily.

"See you later," Jellal said with a nod, and then flashed a quick grin at the group. "Good work you three. Under different circumstances I would say you make a good team."

The others said nothing, just waved their goodbyes and walked off to the parked car near the middle of the empty lot that belonged to Jellal. He watched them climb in, catching Natsu's uncomfortable expression and snorting under his breath at the younger boy. Juvia turned on the ignition and peeled out of the parking lot with ease just as the rain started to pick up.

Jellal walked towards the entrance to the building, digging into his pocket and retrieving his cellphone. He scrolled through his contacts and dialled the number for the clean up crew to get rid of the van Juvia had brought back. It was unmarked, and looked relatively indiscernible, but he wasn't going to take any chances. That thing needed to be stripped and broken down into parts, or, preferably, torched without hesitation.

Frankly, what happened to it after the clean up crew got it wasn't his problem anymore.

* * *

The rain pounded against the windows of Jellal's car as Juvia drove, the water sliding off the crisp tinted glass with ease and draining into the dirtied streets of Magnolia. Natsu lay curled up on the plush leather seat in the back of the sports car, absently wishing he had been in this vehicle instead of the hard metal floor of the van for the past near 7 hours. Preferably he wouldn't have been in any form of transportation for seven hours, but if he had a choice it would be the expensive fancy car he was in now.

Natsu remembered when Jellal had bought the thing two years prior. He had brought it to the slums of the western side of Magnolia, close to where Natsu lived to show it off. Natsu didn't like cars, but he could appreciate the way the beast looked. Sleek, shiny and it purred with a fine tuned engine. When Gray had seen it his eyes went as big as the moon, and he started drooling over the thing, begging for a chance to drive it.

Jellal had laughed, refusing to give Gray the key and bragging about how much it had cost. He had gotten a nice new bonus when he became chief, and he turned into a huge penny pincher in order to save up. Natsu and Gray teased him for the way he babied the thing, saying the car was the only thing Jellal truly loved in life.

That had pissed him off.

It was funny looking back on it, but the one thing that surprised Natsu was how easily Jellal had handed the key over to Juvia. She must have had a good track record with driving, or, at least he trusted her an unbelievable amount to let her borrow it unsupervised for a night. Thinking about it, Natsu was positive Gray was more than likely pissed off about that fact.

"Where am I taking you?" Juvia asked, trying to raise her voice above the pounding of the rain. The wipers slid furiously across the glass, but it was only providing enough clarity for a single moment.

"We need to go to the western slums," Gray answered, pointing off into the distance. "The back alleys between 34th and Harper Street. Do you know where that is?"

"Near Doctor Porlyusica, right?" Juvia asked, and Natsu sat up in surprise.

"You know her?" He asked, watching her face through the rear view mirror. She glanced up at him, meeting his gaze in the small mirror for a minute before returning her eyes to the road.

"Yeah, she's the only doctor in town who treats Twilights. She sort of made a name for herself, everyone knows who she is."

"That's fair," Gray shrugged his good arm before turning his head and staring out the window, watching the city of Magnolia pass by in an instant.

 _Oh yeah_ , Natsu thought with a sick sense of satisfaction, _he's pissed_.

"I can understand Natsu needing to go there," Juvia side eyed him quickly before returning her eyes to the road and making a left. "But why didn't _you_ get treated at the hospital?"

"Porlyusica's the best in town," he said it like it was obvious, and to them it was, but to anyone else Natsu wasn't sure they would be aware of how talented she was. "I'd prefer her over a hospital any day."

Juvia hummed in thought, and that seemed to be the end of that conversation. Natsu would have kept it going under normal circumstances, but he was crashing hard and it was almost impossible to keep talking while trying to force himself not to be sick in Jellal's car. In fact, if he did throw up, he was positive Jellal would have killed him himself without any hesitation.

They rode in silence for twenty minutes, neither Gray nor Juvia reaching to turn on the radio. Natsu silently wished they would play something to help get his mind off of his internal struggle, but eventually resigned himself to listening to the rhythmic beating of the rain against the car.

Natsu kept his head leaning against the window for the full ride, watching the main streets of Magnolia pass him by without any sense of him being there. He was well hidden behind the tinted glass, his infamous appearance going unnoticed for one of the rare instances in his life. Any time he travelled the main streets he was met with contempt, disgust and anger. People really could be vicious to the things they didn't understand, and Natsu learned that at a very early age.

He watched the few people on the streets running for shelter from the rain, all dressed in relatively nice clothes meant for the middle class or higher, shiny jewels hanging from their ears or necks like badges of wealth. Fruit carts and stands housing food or wares lined the main streets, and neon signs for restaurants glowed brightly against the foggy air. There were clothes shops and businesses all squashed together in high rising buildings made of different coloured brick that brought a new life to this part of the city.

Absently, he wondered what the insides of those places all looked like. He knew that each one of those buildings had a very prominent sign on the front that said _No Twilight's_ which prohibited him from entering. As a child, he fantasized about entering the nicest restaurant in town and ordering everything off the menu. Sometimes he still entertained the idea, but back then he still foolishly believed he had a chance in making that dream a reality.

Eventually they turned into the slums, travelling west towards the good doctors. They passed the brightly coloured penis they had seen only the morning before, still hanging proudly on the wall of a rundown building, and Natsu grinned faintly at it. A moment later they pulled up in front of the building that doubled as Porlyusica's home and her medical office. It was a brown brick building with three floors and looked almost as old as the doctor herself.

Juvia pulled into a parking space in front of the building and pulled the car into park. Natsu let out a sigh of relief when the motion of the car had stopped, and thus the world stopped spinning with it. He sat up straight and leant forward in the space between the two seats in front of him and grinned brightly at Juvia.

"Well, it's been fun," he said, breaking the silence. "This might sound weird, but I hope we get to meet again. On friendly terms, of course."

Juvia let out a small laugh, and she turned to look at him, a faint smile on her face. "Stay out of trouble and I'm sure we will."

He laughed, and saluted her. "Yes ma'am."

He flopped back into his seat and turned towards the door, getting ready to make his exit. He hesitated when he noticed Gray hadn't made any effort to even take off his seatbelt, and raised a brow at the back of his partner's head curiously. He wouldn't have been surprised if Gray was asleep, but Natsu could see his eyes open in the mirror off to Grays right.

"Be safe, yeah?" Juvia said quietly, watching Gray expectantly.

"Yeah," Gray nodded, clearing his throat awkwardly before turning to her and giving her a tight smile. "See you around, officer."

He unbuckled his seatbelt and slid out of the car before she could answer, and Natsu scrambled to crawl out of the car after him. He tried to chase after Gray in the rain, confused by how awkward the tension was in the car and wanting to ask about it.

"What the hell was _that_?" Natsu called over the rain, catching up to his friend and walking up the walkway to the front door to the clinic. They had barely walked twenty feet and they were already drenched from head to toe.

"Nothin'," Gray said, though he refused to look at his partner.

"You're just jealous she got to drive Jellal's car!" Natsu teased, shaking Grays good arm and laughing when Gray tried to brush him off.

They opened the door to the clinic without knocking, a small bell jingling overhead to alert any occupants in the building of their presence. The clinic stretched out before them, several curtained hospital beds lined up neatly on either side of the olive coloured walls. A fire was burning in a hearth at the end of the room, providing heat to the building and masking the smell of antiseptic with that of freshly burning wood. Doctor Porlyusica sat at her desk to the left, wheeling around in her chair to face the boys as they entered, crossing her arms and looking unimpressed.

"Good morning, Doc," Natsu greeted cheerily, hoping that if he played off the damage dealt to him he may have a chance at walking out of the clinic alive.

"Nothing good ever brings you to my home, Dragneel," Porlyusica growled at him, the lines on her face pulling down as she pursed her thin lips at him. "What trouble did you get yourself into _this_ time?"

"Oh, nothing too extreme," Natsu shrugged and walked towards a vacant bed, sitting down on the plush fabric and bouncing out of boredom. He watched as Gray sat on the bed across from him, a pained expression on his face he was trying to hide as he gingerly held his hurt arm. "Where's Wendy?"

"She's out on a delivery run to the Compound," Porlyusica said, rising from her chair and walking over to stand in front of Natsu. She glared down at him over the bridge of her nose, her red eyes piercing and sending a chill down his spine. "You don't often make house calls just to chat, Natsu, so are you going to stop playing this game and tell me what happened?"

Natsu dropped his grin and sighed. He knew he couldn't keep up the charade that nothing was wrong forever, the doctor was too smart for that. He also knew the faster he got treated the faster he could sleep, and after the overdose he pulled yesterday he knew he needed at least a full day in bed to properly recuperate.

Lifting his hands to his shirt, he unclasped the multitude of sheaths he had attached to his body and laid them out on the bedside table to his right. Porlyusica watched him through her narrow eyes, waiting patiently for him to finish while she undoubtedly assessed his body language for any signs of fatigue or injury before he showed her the real damage. He eventually unbuttoned his shirt and pulled his arms free of the silk sleeves, exposing his few cuts from the stray bullets and knife wounds he had across his chest. He kept his eyes trained down while Porlyusica looked him over, baiting his breath while he waited for her to notice the break in his arm.

"You can never get out of anything easily, can you?" The Doctor eventually sighed, turning to walk away and collect the necessary instruments she would need.

"It could have been worse," Gray spoke up then, having switched from sitting on the bed to lying in it.

"I'm sure 'it' could have. Want to fill me in on what happened?" Porlyusica grumbled, setting up a tray with her things and taking a seat on a stool in front of Natsu. She attached the strap of a blood pressure monitor to his uninjured bicep and placed the ear pieces to a stethoscope in her ears. She placed the cold, round part of the stethoscope against his chest, sending a mild shock through his body due to the chill. She then began to press quickly on a ball of air connected to the blood pressure machine, while she listened to different areas of his body while he breathed.

She worked quickly and methodically, and there was something cathartic in watching her doing it. Natsu had spent most of his life in this clinic, having run into trouble more often than not and needing the doctor's assistance to get patched up. While he sat there, he breathed in the smell of antiseptic and the herbs she used for her homegrown remedies and was hit with an immediate sense of nostalgia. For as long as he could remember the clinic had smelled this way, and probably would for as long as it would continue to stand.

"Your blood pressure is obscenely high— _what did you do?_ " Porlyusica glared at him again, her eyes and tone sharp and angry.

"Nothing—I _swear_!" He leaned away from her on instinct, feeling his stomach knot and a sense of dread settle in.

Porlyusica ripped off the blood pressure cuff and took away the stethoscope, making quick and jerky movements to show how pissed off she was. She could see through him like clean glass. It was easy for her to tell when he was lying, she had known him his whole life.

"Natsu Dragneel, I have _warned_ you about the dangers of overdosing!" She threw her hands up in exasperation before rising from her seat and rushing towards the back of the clinic. She opened several cupboards and shuffled around them, her exact actions hidden to Natsu by the curtain pulled across the back of the bed.

She returned a moment later with a needle filled partway with an amber coloured liquid, undoubtedly something she had concocted herself. She grabbed his good arm in her iron clad grip (a feat that always surprised him, considering her age) and jabbed the needle into a vein in his elbow. She plunged the liquid in his system and removed the needle quickly, tossing it into a nearby hazard bucket.

"What was that?" Natsu asked, eyeing the bucket wearily. He had often found himself as the main guinea pig in one of her experiments while she created a new drug. They didn't always work out in the way she had hoped.

"A drug I created to help regulate your body. It should lower your blood pressure and calm your heart rate, as well as alleviate any weight in your lungs. You were breathing pretty laboriously, kid," she sat back down on her stool and set to work on properly sanitizing his open wounds with a rubbing alcohol soaked cotton ball, and covering them in gauze. "You need rest, and plenty of it."

"I _am_ pretty tired," he admitted, his eyelids suddenly feeling like they weighed a tonne.

"I don't doubt it. I'm surprised your body has lasted this long, you absolute idiot," the doctor sighed, sounding more tired than angry at the moment. "Tell me about your adventure—was it scary?"

Natsu let out a short laugh, grinning cockily at her. "Do you really think there's _anything_ out there that scares me?"

"There's something out there that scares everyone," she said quietly, not looking at him. "One day you'll find what scares you."

"You're talking to a brick wall, Doc," Gray spoke up, a loose grin on his face.

"Even brick walls can get torn down, boy," Porlyusica said sharply, slapping down a piece of gauze on Natsu's chest with more force than necessary.

They were silent for several moments while she worked. She patched up Natsu's cuts with ease, before standing up and walking off to find the materials for a proper splint for his arm. She grumbled the whole time, muttering to herself about how Natsu was 'going to get himself killed' and 'wouldn't last a day after she was gone'. He and Gray had shared a grin over that, knowing she was probably right.

She adjusted a splint to his arm and outfitted him with a sling before telling him to lie down and rest. He did as he was told, climbing under the covers of the bed and laying his head on the plush pillow. He closed his eyes, feeling instant relief wash over him as his muscles relaxed and his breathing regulated.

Before he realized it, he was asleep.

* * *

Lucy didn't like hospitals. She didn't like the big empty room she was put in, and she didn't like the machines hooked up to her and she didn't like the bed that felt too high off the ground like she was floating in the air. She _especially_ hated the silence. It seemed to stretch on and ring too heavily in her ears, a constant reminder that she was alone and how much she desperately craved companionship.

It was the silence in Bora's house that terrified her the most. Silence was what bred hope. It gave her a false sense of security that she wouldn't be bothered or beaten or filled with drugs, and she could just be left alone with her thoughts. The silence at Bora's was like a safety net she fell back on, and each time she experienced it she was left disappointed. The net had failed her; it had dissolved away and let her tumble backwards into the darkest memories of her brain.

Hospitals were supposed to be a safe place—at least, that's what children were taught. Lucy was sure she was taught that as a child, taught that she shouldn't be afraid and she should accept the help that was offered to her. There were no monsters in hospitals. No bogeymen hiding at the end of the hall, waiting to carry her away into the night.

However, Lucy had learned that people were monsters. They were capable of horrific things, especially if it benefitted them. There was no single bogeyman, there were many and they came in the form of men willing to pay for her body, something that she never gave her consent to sell.

As she lay in the hospital bed, the room brightly lit even with the curtains pulled across the windows, she stared out at the room stretched out before her. She was in a private room, completely isolated from any of the other girls she had travelled here with. The only visitors she had had so far were nurses and doctors, who had hooked her up to the machines to her left and drew blood from her arm to run tests.

She stared at the two arm chairs placed at the end of the room, next to a fake potted plant and underneath a television. She imagined people sitting there, her parents, or what she assumed they looked like, waiting patiently for her to recover so they could take her home. They would smile warmly at her, and reassure her that she was safe—that they would take care of her. Her mother would offer to get her some tea, and her father would jokingly say he would let her pick whatever she wanted to watch on television, as long as it was a sports game. They would tell her they loved her, and missed her, and were searching for her.

When she blinked, the image was gone and she was alone again, the silence ringing out in her ears. She wondered if anyone was going to come, even though she knew she didn't even know her last name. She didn't know if she even had any parents anymore, for all she knew they could be dead. Even if they were alive, she had no way of contacting them. She didn't know who she was or where she came from, and any tearful reunion with her family would have to wait until her memory came back, if it ever did.

Lucy wasn't even entirely sure she wanted her memory back. She was definitely curious about who she was—desperate, even, to find out. However, there were plenty of memories she was positive she didn't want back. The months she spent with Bora were a blended haze at the moment, and to be able to remember each day with clarity made her feel sick.

Instead of dwelling over the return of her memories, Lucy decided to sit back and try to rest. Her body had ached all morning from the long ride in the van, as well as from the ghost pains of previous injuries. She needed to allow herself time to heal, as with her injuries she also was dehydrated and half-starved. Lucy wasn't sure of the last time she had a proper meal, or even a consecutive three in one day. Bora never made it a habit to make sure the girls were properly taken care of, most of them collapsing due to starvation. There were more than seven of them when Lucy was first brought in, a fact that she was unfortunately able to remember with horrifying clarity.

She settled back against the mountain of pillows behind her head and pulled the thin bed sheet and blanket close to her chest. She let her eyes flutter close and tried counting backwards from ten in her head. The counting had become a sort of mantra; a prayer of a sort that kept her sane through the all the horrible things she had experienced. If she could take the world ten seconds at a time, she could handle whatever life threw at her.

 _3...2...1…_ sleep took her then, gentle and sweet and faster than she had expected.

* * *

 **A/n: heyyyy everyone look I uploaded on time today :p. Anyway, this chapter was fun to write, I like Jellal's character. His pov isn't going to happen a lot after this mini-arc (I don't think) but I enjoy writing him regardless. A few new characters should show up next chapter, and I look forward to including them :). Thank you all so much for all the lovely reviews you guys sent in, they were fantastic. I'll be messaging those who were logged in to review shortly, and for the guest reviewers-thank you! I wish I could thank you personally. Also thanks to everyone who fav'd/followed, there are 134 followers now which blows my mind!**

 **Also we didn't reach our reviewer goal theres no chapter preview. I actually don't think I'm going to do that little challenge anymore because that means I have to write the chapters in advance and I'm currently too busy to do that so we'll see if that comes back later or not hahahah. I just want to give a heads up that next weeks chapter is the last one for 3 weeks as I will be out of the country visiting friends and will be too busy to write/upload. At least, I have no current plans to update but if I magically have time to post a new chapter it more than likely won't be on any of the Mondays but at some random time. Idk yet, we'll see. But this story is not dead, and will remain active until I get back. **

**Thanks for understanding and please leave a review after you finish the chapter. Hope you all enjoy and thanks for sticking with me! :)**


	8. Paranoia

Juvia missed the taste of fresh coffee. It was possibly the only highlight of being undercover for so long, and she realized too late how much she had taken it for granted. When she had returned to her regular job at the precinct, sat in her old lumpy desk chair staring blankly at a computer screen trying to think of the words she needed to use in her report, the only thing filling her mind was the thought of fresh coffee. The coffee at the precinct was stale and much too bitter for her liking, and she was positive her partner must have brewed the pot because he burned the grinds, the smell hot and itchy in her nose.

She sat back in her chair, the metal squealing in protest after years of daily abuse, and stretched her arms out high above her head. Coming back after every mission was always tough, because the freedom one experienced while out in the world was like a drug. The precinct was small, and cramped and stuffy and altogether too loud to allow her to think. When she was out on the job she had the ability to do whatever she wanted, as long as she did her job correctly. Which, in her defence, she always did.

She dropped her arms back down to rest on her desk and peered out over the top of her computer screen. There were a few officers by the coffee pot, chatting about something undoubtedly menial. Most officers were at their desks, or a few were escorting a couple arrests to be detained. The phones were ringing off the hooks and the photocopier was making the obnoxious whirring sound it always did when used too much.

It had almost felt like she had never left.

"You look bored," her partner, Gajeel, grinned slyly at her from where he sat nonchalantly at his desk.

"I'm fine," she sniffed, annoyed that he could always see right through her.

She and Gajeel had gone through the police academy together. He was something of a legend, being the first Twilight to ever attempt to work in the police force. He was then immediately rejected by all their peers, and had to work twice as hard as anyone else to succeed in their field.

They had become friends almost immediately. Juvia didn't care that he was a Twilight, and treated him exactly how she would anyone else. He was bristly and snappish to her in the beginning, a defence mechanism she was positive he had picked up over years of prejudice. She had waved him off though, rolling her eyes at his standoffishness and stretching out a hand if he ever needed help. They worked together as the best team in the academy and left as the respective tops of their class after they had graduated.

Jellal had sought them out after that and offered them a job doing some of the most dangerous things in the world. Gajeel had grinned and accepted easily. Juvia was more hesitant, having gone to the academy in search of something, and didn't want to lose track of her goals. Jellal had assuaged her fears and promised her the resources she needed were all within her grasp if she worked under him, and she had agreed to join him. That had been seven years ago, and she and Gajeel had sat across from each other at the same desks since.

Because of their near-decade long history, Gajeel had learned to read Juvia like a book. He could tell when she was lying, or upset, or sad or anything, really, and he did it with an obnoxious confidence. He was a prickly bastard to everyone, especially her, but he gave her advice when she needed it and offered to buy her drinks when he couldn't deal with her crying. In turn, she could do the same to him—sans the crying part. They were best friends, trusted partners, and drinking buddies.

"You miss the rush," his grin was wicked, the multitude of piercings on his face catching the light above and glinting devilishly. "You want to be back out there."

"I'm perfectly content right here," she shrugged, and returned her gaze to her computer screen. She had been working on her report for the past four days and hardly had anything done. At this rate she wouldn't be out on another proper mission in a month.

"Liar," he snorted.

They were silent for a moment and she could feel Gajeel's eyes on her. He was inspecting her, reading the plains of her face and trying to decipher if she had an injuries hidden under her clothes. He must have found something, because he sighed quietly and his voice softened to a near whisper.

"Was it that bad?" He asked quietly, regarding her thoughtfully.

She knew he meant her mission, and her fingers stilled above her keyboard. She stared unseeingly at the computer screen another moment longer, trying to sort her thoughts into something coherent.

Gajeel had come back from his mission two days ago, boasting about wiping a drug lord off the map. He had been all grins and smiles, and tried teasing Juvia. When she didn't reciprocate, or at least, not with all her heart, he knew something was up.

In all honesty she was a bit bitter towards him. She knew for a fact that he was supposed to be the one to help her bring down that boat. He was supposed to show up at the eleventh hour and rescue those girls. And it was him that was supposed to get information out of Bora, which would have been entirely possibly if Lucy hadn't shot him.

Really, she was mad at herself, but she was looking for an outlet.

"It was pretty bad," she admitted, finally raising her eyes to meet his. "What happened to those girls…," she bit the bottom of her lip and looked away again, trying not to imagine the girls lying scattered around the ship floor, with too many drugs in their bodies to even know the names of them all. "It makes me sick to think of how many other girls are probably in Bosco right now because that disgusting man had succeeded more than once."

"That's not your fault," Gajeel frowned at her, leaning back in his chair and cupping his hands behind his head. He watched her down the bridge of his long crooked nose, his own work long forgotten. "You can't blame yourself for something you didn't know about. You did your job and you did it well and that's why all of those girls are alive right now. Give yourself some credit."

"I know," Juvia said quietly and turned back to look at her screen.

Gajeel had decided that that answer was good enough, and he dropped his hands and stopped looking at her. He returned back to work, the rhythmic typing of his keyboard the only sound he made except for the occasional sigh of irritation from the menial work. Much like her, Gajeel preferred to be out on the job doing the work to help others than be stuck at a desk writing a report for some stuffy old men to complain about later.

She appreciated the words he had said to her, though. Truth be told she had barely slept the past couple days, her thoughts only of the nameless and faceless girls that she couldn't comprehend the number of whom had been sold off. There weren't many cases that stuck with her after she finished them, but this was one of those rare times when she knew it would take some time getting over.

Thinking of the girls, Juvia wondered how Lucy had been doing. She had been too busy check up on her and she knew the girl needed to get her strength back and rest for a few days, but she wanted to see her soon. She wasn't sure how long it would be until the girl would be discharged, but Juvia wanted to visit and help her adjust to her temporary life her in Magnolia to the best that could.

She knew it was a better idea to stay away from Lucy. Getting attached to someone she met on a job would only spell trouble. It put Lucy's life in danger, and potentially even Juvia's. It also made her life harder. She was a sympathetic person by nature, and there was something about Lucy that Juvia wanted to protect. She could see how strong Lucy was just in the day they had spent together, and she knew she would be fine on her own, but that didn't stop Juvia from worrying about her.

Juvia contemplated calling Jellal for an update, but she knew her boss would chew her out for getting attached and she didn't really want to deal with that right now. She hadn't seen hide nor hare of him in four days, but his car was missing from her apartment parking lot the morning after she had parked it there. She wondered if things were going smoothly at the hospital and then decided she would see for herself later on.

Glancing at the clock on her computer, Juvia was pleased to find she only had four hours of her shift left. When it was over she would grab dinner and drive to the hospital to visit Lucy.

She stretched her fingers for a moment, and then got back to work.

* * *

Natsu had slept for four days. It was one of his longest records after overdosing, second only to the time he stayed asleep for a whole week after downing almost an entire bottle of pills.

His muscles were stiff from not having been used, and when he sat up in bed and stretched he felt all his joints ache and scream in protest. His stomach was growling like a caged beast, and his mouth was so dry his tongue was stuck to its roof and he had to pry it off forcefully. He was disoriented after waking up, unsure of the date or the time, except for the near setting sun splaying hues of red orange and pink through the windows of Porlyusica's clinic.

When he woke, Wendy, the doctor's assistant and adoptive-granddaughter was sitting on the edge of his bed, watching him expectantly. A huge grin broke out across her face when he sat up, and her brown eyes sparkled the way they always did when she was excited.

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" Wendy said cheerfully, leaning over to hug him.

He smiled down at her and rubbed the top of her head affectionately, musing her dark blue hair. Her tiny arms were wrapped around his torso, clinging to him while she buried her face in his chest. She giggled girlishly when he rubbed her head and broke free of him after a long moment.

"You must be hungry," she said knowingly, stating it more like a fact than a posing of a question. "Doctor Porlyusica is preparing dinner upstairs, do you need any help walking?"

"I should be fine," Natsu waved her off, knowing he would only burden the girl if she tried to help. She was half his size and her frame made her look even younger than she was; he knew he would be too much for her to support. "What's the old bat making, anyway?"

Wendy hopped from the bed onto one foot. She spun in place before setting down back on both feet, and laced her fingers behind her back. The burgundy skirt she wore swished around her thighs before settling back into place. She leaned forward excitedly, stage whispering like the reveal of what was for dinner was a secret.

"Curry chicken," she announced, standing up straighter and watching in delight as Natsu's eyes lit up with excitement.

Curry chicken was his ultime favourite dish. His dad made it for him a lot while growing up, but nothing ever compared to the way Porlyusica made hers. Natsu's father, Igneel, had told Natsu that he had learned the recipe from the doctor, but she must have left out a secret ingredient because no matter how hard he had tried, he had never been able to make it the same as her.

Growing up in the neighbourhood, and Porlyusica and Igneel being longtime friends, Natsu often got spoiled with Porlyusica's curry. Porlyusica had a garden behind her clinic where she grew fresh herbs mostly used for medicine, but that she oftentimes included in her cooking. It left a fresher, almost raw taste when plucked straight from her garden, and no restaurant Natsu had ever been to could compare.

However, when Wendy came into the picture, the younger girl wasn't much of a fan of spice and so Porlyusica stopped cooking with it as much. The doctor only ever made it on a rare occasion, and Natsu wasn't entirely sure what he had done right to be so lucky as to get it. He counted his lucky stars and then began the slow descent up towards the apartment above the clinic.

Lying in bed for so long had taken a toll on him, as it often did. His legs ached and he hunched over when he walked. Wendy walked behind him careful, keeping a worried hand hovering just behind his back in case he needed some extra support.

It always surprised Natsu to know that Wendy was a Twilight. She was stronger than the average human, but not by much, which made her an incredibly weak fighter. She was smart, however, picking up her grandmother's teachings in the blink of an eye and using her knowledge for good. The girl often made house calls for her grandmother, delivering drugs or using her medicinal skillset when needed.

When Natsu reached the wooden stairs, he had to bite his tongue to stop from groaning out when he lifted his legs. He had had plenty of rest, but that didn't entirely wash away the soreness of a fight. The Twilight he had fought on the boat had done a number on him, nothing he couldn't handle, but enough to make him ache. Because of such, it took him much longer than he was used to to climb the small flight of stairs. He was an impatient man, and each step he took made him hungrier as the smell grew closer and heavier in his nose.

The spices were so rich he could almost taste them in the air. They flowed into his nose and danced on his tongue and he breathed in heavier with each step. He couldn't name every ingredient that was in the curry (he had a bad memory with most things, in fact) but he could pick out the onion and the sweetness of the apple that Porlyusica added and the heady scents of ginger and garlic. The smells were so nostalgic he felt like he was a child again, running up these stairs with scrapes on his knees and clad in nothing but a pair of shorts, his feet dirty from the streets of the slums.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he could hear voices. A low, relaxed one he could easily name as Gray's was speaking to a young girl. Natsu rounded the corner and poked his head in, taking in the scene.

Gray was leaning back in a wooden chair, seated at the small square table in Porlyusica's tiny kitchen, a beer in hand. Across from him sat Carla, Wendy's adoptive sister, a pinched look on her face and her nose upturned in the air slightly. Natsu liked the girl, but she had an attitude problem. Natsu was pleased to see his younger brother, Happy, sitting next to Gray, fiddling with a deck of cards. And finally, standing in front of a large stainless steel pot, was Porlyusica, the doctor stirring her curry with a wooden spoon.

"Look who's back from the dead," Gray said, noticing Natsu standing in the entryway and grinning at him.

"Natsu!" Happy cried, pushing himself away from his chair and running over to Natsu. He threw his arms around Natsu, the length of them unable to reach around his back entirely due to how small he was.

Natsu leaned down and hugged the boy tightly, hating himself for having left him for so long. He ruffled the bright blue hair of the boy, a brighter shade than Jellal's and more shocking looking. Happy cried for a moment or two, getting snot on Natsu's chest and rubbing his nose against Natsu's skin just to be a little shit.

"Sorry I slept for so long buddy. Were you good while I was gone?" Natsu asked softly, rubbing a hand along Happy's back supportively.

"Yeah, real good!" Happy promised, pulling back and grinning up at his older brother.

"Glad to hear it," Natsu ruffled his hair again. "Thanks for taking care of him, Granny."

With their father away on business, and Natsu needing to leave on a mission, Happy was left with Porlyusica. Usually he was left with whoever would take him first. The kid bounced around through many homes of members of Natsu's syndicate for a night or two whenever no one was home to look after him. Natsu cared more about his little brother than anyone, and it was always tough to have to say goodbye even if it was for a single night.

"You stink!" Carla snapped, breaking the mood. She pinched her nose and glowered at him, waving him away with her tiny hand.

Come to think of it, he probably did smell. He hadn't showered in four days, and he was already dirty and sweaty from the night before they arrived. He looked down at himself, topless with a thin sheen on grease on his skin. He suddenly felt very self conscious, and curled his mouth in disgust.

"You know where the shower is," Porlyusica spoke up, not even turning to face him. Her voice was calm, like it always was when she cooked. The only times Natsu had ever seen her look something even remotely close to serene was when she was in the kitchen, cooking for her makeshift family. "There's clothes in there waiting for you. Happy brought them. Hurry up before we eat without you."

"Thanks," he grinned and ruffled Happy's mop of hair once more and stood to his full height, promptly swivelling on his feet and marched off towards the bathroom.

When he had cleaned himself off, stealing only a few more moments in the shower to feel the bliss of burning hot water roll down his skin, he got changed as fast as he could with one working arm and sat back down at the table with the rest of the group. He had noticed in the shower that all his cuts, scrapes and bruises had healed while he slept. It was nothing to bat an eye at, at least for him, he was used to healing faster than the average human.

Not that he _was_ the average human. He was all too aware of that fact.

His arm was still broken, however. He would give it until the end of the week to heal all the way, maybe even until next week depending on how bad it was. The pain was still there, although almost hollow feeling. It ghosted through his body anytime he moved the shoulder of the hurt arm, or brushed his arm against something on accident. He hardly noticed it, but it was as annoying as a fly constantly flying around his head.

He ignored the flare of pain when he slumped down in his seat too heavily, and his arm jostled in its sling. Porlyusica had eyed him when he had done it, but he flashed her a broad grin and she left him alone. She served the curry quickly, giving everyone portions the size of their head and insisted they start eating before it got cold.

When Natsu bit into it, he almost melted. It was spicy, but also sweet, creating a perfect blend of flavours unlike any other. Porlyusica had made a special batch just for him with extra spice, just the way Natsu liked it. Happy had tried eating it once a few years ago, and after one bite he cried for an hour. Natsu and Igneel had laughed at him the whole time, and Happy had never forgiven them for it.

The group ate and talked, joking amongst each other and telling stories of the past four days that Natsu had missed. When the meal was over, Natsu slung his good arm around his brother and pulled him close and the group continued talking for hours until the kids got tired. Natsu had helped carry Carla to her room and Wendy put her to sleep, thanking Natsu for his help.

When Natsu returned to the kitchen, Happy looked like he was falling asleep in his chair. His brown eyes weren't focusing on anything, and his eyelids looked heavy. Natsu took that as a sign for bed, and picked up his brother. For a boy of ten, Happy was small for his age and light as a feather. Natsu took that as a blessing for the night, as carrying him with one arm was already awkward enough, but if he was any bigger he might have had trouble.

"Thank you for the meal," Natsu told Porlyusica quietly, trying to keep his voice down so as not to wake his brother. "And for everything else."

"You'd best get on home quickly," the doctor smiled wickedly at him, the lines on her face lifting and a mirth in her red eyes. A sickening feeling curled at Natsu's stomach, and he eyed her wearily. "I put a special dose of laxatives in your curry, as a punishment for overdosing."

Natsu blanched, staring at her in wide eyed horror. Behind him at the table, he heard Gray choke on his beer, stifling a snort. Natsu ignored his friend, resisting the urge to turn around and clock him in the jaw, and instead bolted for the stairs. He knew for a fact Porlyusica had no issues doing what she had said she did, and he planned to make it home in time before they took affect. If he could guess from experience, he had about ten minutes.

He started running.

* * *

For three nights, Lucy had nightmares. The fourth day had come and was quickly going, and she dreaded going to sleep. Each night had been worse than the last, the horrific images of dead Bora swirling through her mind and corrupting her dreams. She always woke up in a sweat, and this morning she had woken up screaming.

The days themselves were getting harder to manage as well. She lay in her bed, sometimes with the television on, though she never watched it, not really. More often than not she stared out the window and wished she was outside, seeing the world. She knew she was in a safe space in the hospital, but being stuck in the room gave her anxiety. It agitated her, and to a certain extent it even irritated her, and it got harder and harder for her to be nice to the nurses and doctors that came through her door.

It wasn't their fault, she knew, they were only doing their job. They brought her meals and bathed her and checked the machines connected to her. The worst part of all of it was when they drew blood for testing, which they did more times in four days than Lucy could count.

She had realized the first day that she had a fear of needles. It had been growing, steadily, like a poison in her brain. Each time the nurse came with a needle, she would try to pull away and struggled beneath their grasp. Eventually they had to get a male nurse to come and hold her down so they could do their tests, and Lucy had struggled all the while. At one point they had to sedate her, and when the drugs wore off she cried for hours.

Lucy realized that logically she hated the needles because they reminded her of Bora. What he had done to her for months had ruined any trust in people she had. She knew that she had been thinking about him too much recently, always drawing some connection to the things around her to her time with him.

She still couldn't remember much, but she did remember a few new things. Just simple instances while she lived in the house he kept her in, like the colours of the walls (beige) and the trim on the border (white) and that the kitchen was always messy and the house was always the rowdiest when there was a sports game on. It was almost like he ran a pub, the steady flow of men that came through the door was endless on those nights. They came, they drank, they laughed and cheered together. They would sit on the leather couches, a woman on their laps or sometimes two on each arm. Lucy remembered the feeling of a silk shirt against the bare skin of her arm and the hard feeling of a knee between her legs from where she was perched. She remembered the feeling of a rough hand stroking her thigh, and then she decided she had had enough and she didn't want to remember anymore.

Lucy wished she had magic. If she had magic, she would have created a spell to reverse time, so that all the bad things that happened to her never did. If there wasn't a way to do that, she would have used a spell to remember all the good memories and erase all the bad. Then, she knew, she would be able to live in peace.

Lucy glanced at the clock hanging above the door to her room. It read 7:15 and she knew she wasn't going to be bothered by the nurses for another few hours. She had no food to eat, and no drugs to take and if they did any tests they would do it closer to ten. It was like clockwork, every day.

She wiggled her toes beneath the thin bedsheets, wishing desperately she could get up and walk around. The only times she could go anywhere was when the nurse brought her to the bathroom or just for a simple walk down the hall to stretch her legs, but that had been hours ago. She didn't need to use the bathroom, but she did need to stand. She had worked hard, both mentally and physically to be able to walk again, and she wasn't about to let that go to waste.

She pushed aside the bed sheets and took her time shifting towards the edge of the bed. She fiddled with the railings on the left side of her bed so they slid down and she didn't need to crawl over them, and she placed a firm hand around the pole that held up the saline drip connected to her arm. She used the pole to help her stand, and then she took slow, small steps towards the widows on the right side of the room.

The floor was cold beneath her feet, almost ice on her skin. She welcomed the feeling, it numbed her toes and woke up her body due to the shock. She made her way to the window and sat on the edge of the biggest one, staring down into the courtyard. She couldn't see much, just a couple patients sitting on benches and doctors and nurses walking to and from different wings of the building. She eyed a large cherry tree, watching the petals fall whenever the wind hit them, and wished she was out there watching it happen in person.

She felt like a bird in a cage. She was watching the world go by and was powerless to stop it. She wanted to be out there, going along with the tide and following the flow to the best of her ability. She wanted to run along the city streets and in fields and down hills. She wanted to leap from tree to tree and to dance her heart out. She had so much energy, she didn't know what to do with it all.

For a moment she was so caught up in the desire she had to be outside, she didn't hear the knock at her door. She turned her head and stared at the heavy wood, wondering that if she was quiet enough, maybe whoever knocked would think she was asleep and would go away. Like most days, her prayers went unanswered, and the door slowly creaked open.

Instead of being disappointed, Lucy was pleasantly surprised. She watched as Juvia poked her head in, looking almost sheepish. Lucy sat straighter, and forced a smile on her face, waving the girl in.

"Juvia!" She said brightly, turning slightly to face her. "You came!"

"I'm sorry I took so long," Juvia said, looking ashamed. She closed the door behind her and stepped into the centre of the room. "I wanted to let you have some time to adjust and rest. How have you been?"

"Fine," Lucy settled on, not wanting to burden her with her nightmares and irritableness. "Did you come from work?"

Juvia was dressed in black pants and a white button down, looking nothing like she had the last time Lucy saw her. She looked more like a professional accountant than a dangerous killer. The only thing giving her away was the belt that hung low on her hips, a gun holstered in it, and a badge hanging off a metal chain around her neck. She almost looked like a detective from a tv show.

"Ah, yeah," Juvia managed a small laugh and pushed a lock of blue hair behind her ear. "I didn't think to change before coming here. How's the hospital? Boring?"

Lucy gave her an exasperated look and let out a long sigh. "You have _no_ idea," she moaned, letting her shoulders slump. "I hate it here. Anywhere would be better."

"You'll be released soon enough," Juvia smiled at her and crossed the room to the bed, perching on the end of it and glancing around the room. "It's a pretty nice room you have, at least. Is the food as bad as everyone says it is?"

"Worse," Lucy said bitterly, and Juvia snorted. "Be honest: when am I getting out of here?"

Juvia looked at her then, her brown eyes level with nothing to be read from them. She studied Lucy for a moment, thinking of her answer while Lucy waited anxiously.

"I'm not sure," Juvia finally admitted, looking apologetic. "I'm sure the doctors are trying to get you back up to a healthy weight and try to undo the damage done to your body by the drugs and starvation. It may take a few weeks."

"A few _weeks_?" Lucy hissed, and she felt the anger flare inside of her again. She stood from the windowsill and began pacing, reaching up with her free arm to scratch at her left bicep. Her nails dug into the skin, raking back and forth and peeling back a layer while she tried to scratch away an itch that seemed to bury itself in her bones. "I don't have the patience to be here for weeks, Juvia, I want to _leave_."

"I'm sure you do," Juvia said calmly, and Lucy could feel her watching her. "And if it were up to me you would be out of here already, however, I'm not a doctor and neither are you. Please trust them to do what they are trained for."

" _Trust them_?" Lucy spat incredulously. She ripped her nails from her bicep and reached up to her neck, clawing at the skin. She felt like her whole body was on fire, eating her from the inside out. She thought that if she scratched hard enough that she could open up a hole small enough to let the fire out, and then maybe she wouldn't be in so much pain anymore. "All they do is feed me and jab me with needles and they walk me to the bathroom _far_ less than I need to go! It's awful here!"

Juvia narrowed her eyes at Lucy and watched her silently. Lucy knew that she was looking for something, and Lucy glared at her. She didn't like Juvia poking around at her body and brain, it wasn't her business. Whatever the woman was plotting, it made Lucy uncomfortable. She wanted to smack the look right off her face.

"What are you staring at?" Lucy asked, her question short and snappish and full of venom. It surprised her, and even Juvia, as the girl blinked at her in surprise.

"Lucy…," Juvia rose slowly, taking a single step forward to test the waters. She spoke calmly, but there was a guardedness about her eyes. Lucy thought she looked shifty. "Lucy, are you okay? You're scratching yourself so hard you're making yourself bleed."

Lucy pulled her fingers from her neck and stared down at them. They were coated in blood. Thick, red and syrupy. She could hardly believe it was hers.

Lucy looked down at herself and realized her gown was also covered in blood. It dyed the white material a deep ruby and the red continued to crawl up from the bottom of the material towards her head. It climbed and climbed and Lucy felt hot, like she was bathing in the blood.

Before she realized what she was doing, she started screaming. She pulled at her gown, trying to rip it off of her body before she was swallowed up by the blood. She screamed and screamed until her throat hurt so badly she thought it went raw.

Absently she could hear Juvia calling her name, but it was lost on deaf ears. Her voice sounded muddled, like it was underwater. Lucy couldn't see anything except for the blood, and she clawed at her body anxiously, feeling her fingers get sucked into the material of her gown like it had turned into a pool.

Several moments later Lucy felt a sharp pain in her neck, and her vision began to swim. She felt like she was floating, and that was when she realized she was being carried. A tall male nurse had picked her up and carried her to her bed, setting her down gently. Another nurse came by to hook her up to the heart machine, and she waited until Lucy's heartbeat regulated before turning to talk to Juvia.

Lucy couldn't hear anything of what they were saying, and eventually she slipped unconscious.

* * *

"She's going through withdrawals," the nurse explained to Juvia, the two of them staring at Lucy asleep in her bed. The male nurse who had carried her there had begun cleaning the scrapes Lucy had given herself and was covering them with gauze. Juvia felt sick.

"I should have been paying closer attention," she shook her head, angry with herself. "I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner."

"It's not your fault," the nurse smiled warmly at her, her large brown eyes doeish and kind. "These things happen. The drugs that were in her system before were intense. The other girls have been going through similar struggles. She'll be over them soon, but we have to flush her system. Until they're completely gone, she's going to experience paranoia and irritability and hallucinations. Scary stuff, but she can pull through."

"She's a fighter," Juvia said quietly, watching Lucy sleep.

"You should probably go," the nurse continued, voice soft. "Visiting hours are almost up and she needs to rest."

"Right," Juvia nodded, stealing a glance at Lucy one last time before heading for the door. She thanked the nurses for their work and shut the door behind her, walking out into the empty hall.

Juvia hated hospitals. She'd hated them for years, and never went to them if she could avoid it. For as many good things that happened in hospitals, just as many bad ones did. She had nothing but unpleasant memories of hospitals, and wished she had never come here.

However, her pity and sympathy won her over and she had put all negative thoughts out of her brain and entered the building just to see Lucy. She should have noticed the signs of withdrawal sooner; the way Lucy had been so snappish was a big giveaway for it. Juvia didn't know her well, but Lucy had seemed like a timid, good-natured girl.

 _A girl capable of killing_ , she thought absently, before shoving it back to the far corners of her brain.

Juvia walked the halls of the hospital at a brisk pace. She had sprayed some perfume on the sleeve of her shirt before entering and raised it to her nose, inhaling the floral scent in the hopes that it drove away the smell of antiseptic and floor cleaner. Juvia hated the smell of hospitals more than anything. She knew it mostly smelled like that to drive away the scent of death, and she felt sick anytime she thought of it.

It was ironic that she couldn't handle the smell of death in a hospital, where most deaths were tame, as opposed to the smell of death when she was the one pulling the trigger. Maybe her brain could justify it when it was her own hand doing the dirty work. She knew, however, that the reason that hospital death smelled so bad was because it brought back her worst memories.

Her worst fears.

She shook the thoughts off before she began remembering, refusing to lose herself to the darkest parts of her brain in a moment of weakness. She all but ran out of the hospital and to her car. When she opened the door and slid in the seat, she gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles went white and she counted her breaths. The anxiety that had swelled in her stomach in the hospital began to settle, and eventually she regained control of her composure.

In her purse, her phone began to ring. She shrill sound caught her off guard and she jumped, before calming herself and forcing herself to remove a hand to dig through her purse. She pulled out her phone and stared at the name, wanting to laugh.

"Yes, Gajeel?" She answered the call, a small smile on her face.

"Come have a drink with me," he said, and she imagined the grin that was no doubt on his face. There was background noise behind him, and Juvia knew he was at least two drinks in. "Levy's working and I'm bored."

"I could use a drink, actually," Juvia admitted, letting out a shaky breath.

"Something happen?" There was an edge to his voice, the only modicum of worry he ever allowed to slip out.

"Nah," she said breezily, shrugging her shoulders even though he couldn't see. "It's just been awhile since I've had a proper drink. I'll see you in twenty."

"Drive faster than the speed limit," he whined, and she laughed. "You're a cop, you can get away with it."

"Save a drink for me," was all she said before hanging up, not allowing him another word.

It was almost scary how her partner always called her when she needed him to. He seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to her emotions going out of whack, and he was always there sometimes even before she knew she needed him. There wasn't a moment in time she wasn't thankful for his friendship, even during all the times he had been an asshole to her.

Letting out a stronger breath then, Juvia donned her seatbelt and turned on her car. She peeled out of the hospital parking lot, bitter that she had spent ten jewels on a parking ticket for five minutes, and drove out into the night.

She knew exactly where to find Gajeel: the only bar he ever frequented. They served the best drinks in town, and the place was always busy. She and Gajeel had been drinking there the past seven years, although Gajeel had been more acquainted with it than she had.

She turned her car in the direction of Makarov Dreyar's bar.

* * *

 **A/n: hello all! As promised, a few new characters showed up in this chapter. I was really excited to have Gajeel come in. He's a secondary character for the most part but he's one of my favs to write. I can't wait for him to have more interactions with other characters ahaha.**

 **Anyway, thank you all to everyone who reviewed! As always I will be messaging those who I can my thanks and for the guest reviewers: thank you! Y'all are awesome ! Again, thank you to everyone who favd/followed, welcome to the story I hope you enjoy your stay! As always, thank you to everyone who has been sticking with me so far, this is an incredibly fun story to write and I have big plans for it.**

 **Sorry my notes here are always kinda long, I have a lot of thoughts lmao. I do have a few orders of business to attend to, so bear with me.**

 **1st. Every week I get a lot of comments on this story reminding people of the anime "gangsta". Well, you'd all be correct, seeing as this is a gangsta au, which I mentioned in the synopsis. However, this story is just following the loose threads that Gangsta provided, as I am doing my own thing with it. There are some definite similarities between the two and the concepts are almost the same, but a lot of things are different. I hope you can continue to enjoy it though, especially if you are a fan of the Gangsta series!**

 **2nd. This is the last chapter for awhile. Potentially three weeks, unless I can find time to update while I'm away. I leave for a trip on Thursday, and I'm honestly not quite sure if I have any time to update while I'm there. I should have some downtime, and if I can update I will. But please do not think this story is dead. I will be updating it at some point, so please don't drop off. **

**3rd. This kind of ties in to 2, but I got a job! It's waiting for me when I get back from my trip, which means even less time for writing. But I'll still try my best to update every week, but I don't think I can manage a set schedule like every Monday like I've been trying for. So, again, this story is NOT dead, I'm just busy.**

 **aaaaand that's it! Thank you for reading my stupidly long comment, but it was important. If I can manage it, the next chapter will be 7k or more as an apology for the hiatus. This chapter was soooo close to being 7k as well, but I didn't want to drag it on.**

 **Please leave a review telling me your thoughts on this chapter! We're entering an arc that's going to be a bit tough on Lucy, but I'm excited to see where it leads. There's some sweet stuff coming soon, so bear with me. If you're new to the story, please fav or follow! Tell me what you like or don't like that's happening!**

 **As always, you all are fantastic, and some of the nicest people I've ever come across. Honestly I don't think I've ever had sweeter reviewers for anything else, so thank you guys. You're all amazing, and I hope you have a great three weeks while I'm away!**


	9. Magnetic

To find parking anywhere remotely similar to Makarov's bar, Juvia had to park down the street behind a bank. The bar itself was always packed, the music so loud you could hear the bass pumping from several blocks away. Before she exited her car, she checked her hair in the rear view mirror and applied a thin layer of lipstick to her lips. She knew it would probably smudge off on whatever glass she drink from, but she still wanted to look at least a little nice, even in the dim lighting.

She removed her badge and threw it in her purse, and then unclipped the belt around her waist that held her gun holster and baton and other necessary police items, and shoved it under the passenger seat. She fussed with her hair again, sprayed a little perfume and then exited her car. When she heard the beep of the lock from when she pressed the button on her key ring, she felt satisfied and started walking in the direction of the bar.

On her way there, she passed multiple people stumbling out of the bar. Most were drunk couples, hanging off of each other on their way home together. Some were random single people and she passed one or two groups of college kids. The door to Makarov's was ever revolving, the steady stream of people that came and left always leaving the bar at its max capacity, even until the early morning hours.

Juvia never stayed there for long, as her job got harder she rarely went there for more than a drink or two before having to say her goodbyes. She and Gajeel often went months without going there, although he always found more time to frequent the establishment when he started dating one of the servers the year before. They tried to find time to go together, however, making it something of a ritual to meet there after a mission as a celebration of getting the job done. Juvia knew that once she got there, Gajeel was going to be plastered, bragging to anyone who listened about how amazing he was at his job. He had built up something of a notorious reputation there, and was always welcomed with cheers and laughs.

That, and the fact that he had grown up with most of the people that worked there. As a Twilight, Gajeel could only frequent a handful of places in Magnolia. He grew up at a Twilight compound, a place meant especially for Twilights to live and spend their days when they weren't being useful for something. However, that compound was part of what had made Makarov so famous.

The man who ran the compound was a Twilight named Igneel Dragneel. Juvia had never met the man, but she had heard only good things about him, especially from Gajeel. Igneel had created the compound as a safe haven for Twilights escaping a civil war created by anti-Twilight factions. It was a place for Twilights to live and grow without fear, and raise their families.

Makarov had made Magnolia his base of operations once he had taken over the syndicate several decades ago. When Igneel created the compound, Makarov wanted in. He offered to fund it, if any and all working Twilights who wanted to offer their services to him, did so. They created a partnership, and Igneel became Makarov's right hand man.

Thus, Makarov's bar had become a space available to Twilights. His syndicate had become known as a space for Twilights to work, and Makarov changed the course of human history. He was widely regarded as one of the only people in positions of power to genuinely treat Twilights like the people they were, not the monsters others take them for.

Juvia respected him for that.

As she walked, Juvia untucked her shirt from her pants so she looked a little less like a cop, and climbed the hill the bar was located on. It was an easy building to see, hirise and imposing over the sleeping city of Magnolia. The sloping cottage-styled roof made the building look less like a bar and more like an inn, which sometimes it often doubled as for members that were passing through town or too drunk to go home.

Juvia remembered the first time she had seen the building. It had been seven years ago. She was barely twenty, with wide eyes and a much less developed tolerance for alcohol than Gajeel. She had stared up at the building, stopping dead in her tracks to crane her neck up and stare at the building that encompassed her in its shadow. It stood tall and proud, like all the members of the syndicate that called it home. Gajeel had snickered at her doe-eyed look, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her inside to buy her the best drink she had ever had.

That was all she could remember from that night, as she had woken up the next morning with vomit on her shirt and tangles in her hair, unsure of how she made it back to her apartment in one piece.

When she reached the top of the hill, she weaved passed groups of people stumbling in and out of the constantly swinging front door to the bar. She was immediately greeted with a familiar atmosphere: high ceilings, dim lights, strobes centered on the stage at the very front of the room where girls in scantily clad outfits were dancing on stage. Tables and booths to the left of the bar, filled with people she could barely recognize the profiles from had it not been for the candles lit in front of the on the tables. The bar to the right was almost as long as the entire building; made entirely out of dark, polished wood and filled to its brim with occupants. Waitresses and waiters flitted about with trays of food and drink, and several bartenders tended to eager customers looking for the best drink in town.

Juvia didn't like syndicates. If anything, she had a personal vendetta against them. It was against her very nature to be here, in the proverbial lions den, just casually having a drink. However, considering her history with Makarov's bar, regardless of how spotty it was over the years, Juvia couldn't bring herself to hate this place. It felt like another version of reality, one where you walked through the doors and there was no hatred in the world. Everyone was under the spell of the music and the drinks, and everyone was happy.

In a strange way, Juvia felt at home.

She stepped through the bar slowly, taking note of the fact that nothing had changed in the year that she had last been here. She immediately noticed Gajeel's inky black hair, spiky enough that it reminded her of a Christmas tree, and made a bee-line for him. He had his jacket covering a barstool, a spot he had saved specifically for her, and she picked it up wordlessly and sat down.

"You came!" He grinned at her, twisting in his seat to face her direction and clapping a heavy hand on her back.

"You had doubts?" She arched a brow at him, knowing he didn't.

"You came dressed like a cop," he frowned down at her, removing his hand to rest his elbow on the back of his chair. "You didn't think to come wearing, oh I don't know, a _dress_?"

She gave him an exasperated look, and motioned at the bartender to gain their attention. "You gave me a deadline of twenty minutes, remember? I didn't have time to go home and change."

"Sounds like an excuse," Gajeel murmured under his breath, turning away to take a sip from his drink.

Juvia ignored him, knowing he didn't care what she came dressed as. Any regular at this bar knew she was a cop. She had either arrested them at one point or another, or they had been there when Gajeel had stood her up on top of the bar and waved their badges around drunkenly, boasting about his new job. If she had been sober, she would have yelled at him over his stupidity. Instead, she had laughed and taken another drink once it was handed to her, cheersing with the crowd and making an uproar.

It was one memory she wished she had forgotten.

When the bartender came to collect her order, she asked for a scotch on the rocks. Juvia had never been interested in hard liquor before, she always liked mixed drinks or ciders because they were easy going down. When Gajeel had brought her here for the first time, he ordered her a scotch to drink and made her drink it, ignoring her protests. She had given into peer pressure, and found that the scotch she had drank was one of the smoothest drinks she had ever had in her life. Gajeel had explained that the liquor sold here was always top brands from around the continent, but the scotch was a syndicate made brand, the recipe secret. Legally, the way the syndicate made most of their money was exporting large shipments of their scotch around the globe. It had brought in a ton of cash, and Juvia could understand why.

She never drank anything else whenever she came here.

When her drink was placed in front of her, Juvia lifted the tumbler to her lips and took a large mouthful. She let the amber liquid slide down her throat, allowing it to wash away the memories she had from earlier in the night.

"What made you so upset earlier?" Gajeel asked, breaking the silence. He eyed her out of the corner of his eyes, leaning himself on the bar and keeping his own sweating glass tucked safely between his hands.

Juvia took another sip before answering. She knew he knew something was off. She thought she had everything down: her posture, tone, expressions. Maybe if she was drinking with someone who didn't know her as well as Gajeel did, she would have been able to pull off her facade.

She placed her glass down on a coaster, and stared at the liquid. She watched the ice cubes float and bounce against each other and off the walls of the glass, and if she moved her shoulder in the right position an overhead light would shine down and dance on the surface of her drink. She got lost in the view of it all, absently wondering if the feeling she was experiencing was as close to drowning out of water as she could get.

"I went to a hospital," she answered, quietly but loud enough over the blaring music that Gajeel could hear her.

He sighed, pushing himself off the bar and motioning for the bartender to bring them another two drinks. "Why do you do that to yourself? You're just torturing yourself, at this point."

"I was visiting someone," Juvia smiled. It was small, just a quirk of her lips.

"You know someone in the hospital? Is it a cop?" She could feel Gajeel staring at her, his interest piqued. He was so predictable. He just wanted to know if someone got hurt during the line of duty, and if there was a cool story to go along with it.

"No," she shook her head. "A friend, I suppose."

"You have friends I don't know about?" Gajeel sounded dubious.

Juvia laughed before reaching up and taking another sip of her drink. The bartender put another glass in front of each of them, and Juvia eyed it. She wasn't planning on getting drunk tonight, but it _had_ been a while and she _was_ supposed to be celebrating.

"She's a new friend," Juvia answered vaguely, turning to look at the stage in curiosity and watch the girls perform. They were all dressed in vaguely matching outfits: something short, sparkly, and form fitting. Juvia only recognized a couple of the dancers, one of them being Levy, Gajeel's girlfriend, up on the stage. Just like the other girls, she was smiling and laughing, dancing surprisingly well in heels and owning the stage she strut around on. Juvia, as always, was impressed.

Gajeel was silent for a moment before the truth struck him. He slammed a hand down on the bar, causing their drinks to shake and the other occupants along the bar to jump. Juvia didn't startle, and turned slowly to watch Gajeel stare at her incredulously.

"You can't honestly mean one of those girls from your mission?" He gaped at her, slumping forward in his seat to enter her personal bubble.

She said nothing, which to Gajeel was damning evidence. He sat back, letting his shoulders slump, and ran a hand down his face. He shook his head in disbelief, murmuring " _no...no...nonono...Juvia...no_!" to himself.

"She'll leave Magnolia soon enough," Juvia shrugged, lifting her drink. "It's just...right now I think she needs all the support she can get."

"You're an idiot," Gajeel shook his head one final time, watching her with tired eyes. "And you're doing this for yourself, to feel better about yourself, not her. You're being selfish."

He was right. She refused to admit it, but she knew he was right. Juvia could honestly say she liked Lucy, but that was the Lucy who didn't have her memories. Lucy could be a totally different person when she gains back her memories, and she'd also be at risk if anyone connected her to Juvia. Juvia was justifying their friendship for selfish reasons, and she knew that.

She didn't reply to Gajeel's words, however, and instead downed the last of her drink. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hearing her say he was right. They both knew it, so what was the point in saying it out loud?

They continued drinking in silence for awhile, turning away from each other to watch the show at the front of the bar. The girls had changed outfits, something black and risqué, and were dancing to their final number. When they finished, the lights dimmed to a single strobe light focused on the centre of the stage where the bar manager, Mirajane Strauss, stood in front of a lone microphone and sang a song.

Mira's voice was a main reason people came to the bar. Her voice was sweet and soft, like honey pouring out of a jar. She sang a melody that could have only been best described as dream-like, and the entire bar was entranced.

With the second glass of scotch now gone, Juvia was now feeling the latent effects of the liquor. The strobe light on Mira was swaying in her vision, and her eyelids felt heavy. She found herself swaying in her seat, humming along with Mira's words as she sang them, caught up and lost in the spell.

When the song ended, the room went black for a moment before the regular overhead lights turned back on. Still dimmed, to keep a romantic ambiance about the bar. The girls returned to the stage to give a final bow, and the room erupted with hoots and hollers, and Juvia could hear Gajeel wolf-whistling behind her. When the girls scampered off stage, Gajeel slid out of his seat and threw some cash down on the bar and clapped a hand on Juvia's shoulder.

"I'm going to go say hi to Levy," he said, grinning widely, his teeth glinting in the light. Absently, Juvia thought he resembled a wolf looking hungry. She shook off the thought, and chalked it up to a trick of the light. "Be good, yeah? I'll be back."

She tipped her third drink at him in a faux salute, and watched him thread through the crowd. When he had disappeared, she turned back to the bar and swirled the liquid in her glass around, watching the lights dance in the scotch.

Having no one left to talk to, Juvia sat and thought about the events of the day while she drank. She wondered to herself, if even after all this time had passed, if she would ever get over her fears of being in a hospital. She wondered if the way she had been feeling was enough to chalk up to past trauma-which, she could admit to herself, it _was_ \- and if she needed to look for professional help to get over it. She shook the thought away when she realized it wouldn't have helped anyway, because she more than likely would be leaving Magnolia within the next couple weeks anyway, and there was no guarantee when she would be back.

When her drink was finished she placed a few bills on the bar under her glass, just enough to cover her last drink and a tip, knowing Gajeel had paid for their previous drinks. She slid off her stool, clutching the bar for support when she wobbled uncertainly, her head spinning. She stood in place for a moment, waiting for her swimming vision to calm before she even dared to take a step.

Usually it took a couple drinks more than this to get her drunk, but she had been drinking pretty fast and it had been months since she had last had a proper drink, all leading up to her tolerance going to shit. Mentally, she cursed herself for not stretching out the length she had been drinking, but emotionally she knew she had checked out hours ago. If she could catch a cab and go home and fall right into bed, that would be the perfect end to the day she had been having.

Slowly but surely she walked through the forming crowd and exited the bar. The cool night air nipped at her flushed skin, immediately relaxing her. Juvia had never been one for large crowds or rowdy atmospheres, and she almost always had anxiety in situations like those. Being alone at night out in the open was the perfect reprieve for that predicament.

"Evening, officer."

The voice came from behind her. She was surprised at the sound, jumping slightly and whirling on her heel. Pressed up against the wall of the bar was Gray, lit cigarette in hand. She almost didn't recognize him without his too-large sweater she had bought for him, as he was dressed smartly in dark jeans and a button up that complimented his form.

"Gray," she breathed out, confident her cheeks were aflame due to the shock he had given her. She had lifted a hand to her chest reflexively and felt her heartbeat hammering against her chest, the thumping rhythm deafening in her ears. "What are you doing here?"

"Just had a drink with a few buddies," he shrugged. Really it shouldn't have been so surprising to see him here, he _was_ a member of this syndicate after all. It was Juvia who was out of place. "Why are you here?"

"My friend invited me here for a drink," she dropped her hand from her heart, letting it hang loosely at her side. The alcohol was having more of an affect on her than she anticipated, and she realized she had to get home.

"I never took you for a drinker," Gray watched her carefully, lifting his cigarette to his mouth to take a final puff before dropping the bud on the ground and grinding it out with his shoe.

"I'm not a big one," Juvia shrugged, glancing between him and the building. "It's just sometimes we go here to catch up after being away on missions for so long."

He said nothing at first, instead watching her in amusement. She realized then that she had been slurring her words, and she lifted an embarrassed hand to her mouth. It was getting harder and harder to find the motivation to open her mouth to speak, her limbs feeling heavy and hard to control.

Gray blew out the smoke in his mouth and started walking towards her. He stopped in front of her, his tall build looming over her by a good several inches. He looked down at her, standing casually with on hand in his pocket and when their eyes met she found mirth in them. After a moment he lifted his hand out of his pocket and placed it on her elbow, steadying her. Until that moment, she hadn't noticed she was swaying in place.

"Oh," she breathed out, looking down at her feet in betrayal.

"How are you getting home?" He asked, a quirk of his lips upturning his mouth. It must have been some sight to see: the woman who tried to kill him due to a misunderstanding was barely able to stand in place properly after stumbling out of a bar.

"Cab," she forced out, the word feeling heavy in her mouth like lead. She needed her bed or a toilet. Mostly, she needed the world to stop spinning.

"C'mon, I'll walk you to the bottom of the street. You'll get one faster than waiting up here," Gray removed his hand from her elbow and let it rest on the small of her back, guiding her down the hill. She had to lean into him to stop herself from barrelling down the hill when she lost control of her limbs, silently grateful to have his support.

"You really don't have to," she tried to argue, although they were already walking. She did it more to be polite than anything, but he only laughed her off.

"I think I'm doing the city a favour, who knows who else you'll kick tonight?" He teased, bumping her gently with his hip.

Her cheeks reddened again, and her head bowed. "I only did that because I didn't know who you were." It was a lame and flimsy excuse, but it was the truth.

"Do you kick every stranger you meet?" He continued, his tone light and amused.

"Only if they look dangerous," she shrugged. If he could have fun, why couldn't she?

He laughed at that, nothing more than a snort, but she appreciated it all the same.

As they walked, Juvia felt the heat of his hand through the thin material of her shirt. It burned against her skin, setting it on fire with a simple touch. Absently, in the back of her mind she contemplated jumping away from him. She had left the bar to get some fresh air and avoid people, and she was only accomplishing one of those tasks. However, she knew she needed his help otherwise she more than likely would have accidentally ended up face down in a gutter in seconds.

When they reached the bottom of the hill, they stopped under a street lamp. It was quieter and the sidewalk had less traffic than the top of the hill where the bar resided. The occasional car drove by, or a few lone stragglers from the bar, but other than that Juvia was basically alone with Gray.

He had leaned her up against the lamp, making sure she wasn't going to fall before standing on the edge of the curb waiting for a cab to pass by. Juvia watched him through a heavy-lidded gaze, most of his appearance muddled by the thick of her lashes. She took in his appearance then, his wounded arm still in a sling from the still-healing gunshot wound. She noted his long legs and the broadness of his shoulders, and had it not been for the sling she almost didn't recognize him as the man from the boat.

Absently, Juvia thought the space they were sharing felt like an alternate dimension. They were coexisting peacefully, even though on any given day they were usually on opposite sides of the battlefield. It was nice, in a way, that they were able to be like this without any tension or animosity. However, she knew it was only a matter of time until the peace would fade and Juvia would have to go back to her job and begrudge Gray for his own.

"How are those girls doing?" Gray asked, glancing at her over his shoulder.

"As well as they can be," Juvia shrugged, pulling her hair forward and resting the exposed part of her neck against the lamp post. The cool metal chilled her, refreshing her from the heat she gained leaning up against Gray. "How's your Twilight?"

"He's not my anything, but he's fine. He'll be back to perfect health in a week or two," Gray answered, but there was humour in his tone. He paused for a moment, watching a car pass by before asking: "who were you meeting tonight?" He didn't look at her when he asked it, but Juvia still noted the curiosity in his tone.

"My partner," she said, but the word sounded more like 'pardnerrr'. Slow and fumbly, due to the alcohol. She almost wanted to laugh at how stupid she sounded. Like a baby who hadn't quite grasped the concept of enunciation yet.

He hummed softly, so quiet she wouldn't have picked up on it if not for the empty street.

"This is boring," Juvia decided suddenly, pushing off from the post and walking off down the street. Her legs felt heavy and her head swam, and even in her hazy state she knew she wouldn't be safe to drive, but it was boring standing there waiting for a cab that wouldn't come.

"Going somewhere, officer?" Gray was beside her in a matter of moments, his long legs catching up with her with ease.

"Home," she stated matter of factly, holding her hands loosely behind her back and skipping several steps ahead. She felt sluggish from the alcohol, but for some reason she suddenly had a burst of energy. She felt like she could do anything for the next little while. "Are you going to follow me all the way there?"

"Well, I don't know," Gray snorted, sounding amused. "As a citizen it's my duty to make sure that as a police officer you don't abuse your power and mistreat the innocent while in your unhinged state."

" _Unhinged_?" She parroted, whirling around angrily to glare at him.

That all would have gone well had there not been a crack in the sidewalk and the heel of her boot got caught and she began to fall backwards. She went through a range of emotions in a matter of seconds, from happy to angry to surprised, and then embarrassed when Gray reached out with his good arm to grab her wrist and pull her forward. Their eyes had met when she had turned around and she saw the mirror image of panic on his face as was on her own when she began to fall, all the fun and games behind them for a moment during the threat of impending danger.

His fingers found purchase around her wrist, and he used a surprising amount of strength to pull her towards him. Juvia felt like a rag doll being pulled in two different directions. As he pulled her forward she collided against him, accidentally barreling into his arm that was in the sling. She saw him wince, and shame filled her.

"I'm sorry," she breathed out, gently placing her hands on his chest and pushing away from him so her weight wasn't on his arm. "Are you okay?"

"I should be asking you the same thing," he said, a soft smile on his face as he looked down at her. She noticed immediately it was strained, and she felt worse. "Yknow, as a badass agent, shouldn't you watch where you're going?"

Her cheeks lit up immediately, and she felt heat creep up her neck. "I'm sorry," she repeated, quieter this time.

"Don't be," he shook his head slightly, dark bangs falling into his eyes.

She was painfully aware that his fingers were still around her wrist, holding her in place in his personal space. She was so close she could breathe in the smell of his cologne, something light yet musky. Oddly enough it reminded her of a snow-topped mountain. She found it suited him.

"May I walk you home?" He broke the silence after a moment. His breath was so close she could smell it; the smell of cigarettes and gin mixed together. It wasn't unpleasant, surprisingly enough.

"It's a long walk," she breathed out, daring a glance up at him through the thick of her lashes. He was watching her intently, his expression soft. Looking at him then, it was hard to believe he had it in him to kill someone. That she had seen him do it.

Then again, the same could be said for her.

"I don't mind, I like walking," a corner of his mouth quirked up, like he was amused by her answer.

She hesitated for a second, a thousand thoughts swirling around in her head. Logically she knew that she shouldn't show him where she lived. She shouldn't invite him into her life. Shouldn't get _involved_. However, the thought from earlier about being in an alternate dimension kept poking at the back of her mind. This _wasn't_ an alternate dimension, but under the darkness of the night sky she could have been able to find an excuse to stay with him a little bit longer.

She shouldn't get involved, so she wouldn't. Not really. Not after tonight.

But for now, she could live with a little risk.

"I live that way," she pointed with her free arm, never breaking eye contact with him.

Gray grinned then, pleased at her response. He removed his hand from her wrist, and for a moment she missed the heat. He gestured for her to lead him, and so she did; confidently and with as much of an even pace as she could muster.

It was going to be a long walk, but she knew she would enjoy it.

* * *

It had officially been a week since Natsu had returned from his mission. He had spent most of his time sleeping—a side effect of an overdose, and the rest of the time catching up with his brother Happy. They had watched movies and played board games and messed around in their house doing all sorts of things that didn't require too much physical activity. Natsu was still hurting, so much so that he felt like he had been run over by a truck, but the pain was healing.

Happy had repeatedly asked Natsu what had happened on his mission, not taking a "nothing" for an answer. Natsu, over time, had gotten increasingly frustrated with his younger brothers tenacity. He was, of course, impressed, but still nevertheless exasperated.

However, Natsu knew Happy was too young to know what had gone down. Happy had seen a lot of things, especially in this town, but even saying the words aloud had made Natsu feel sick. It was a hard thing to wrap his mind around, and if at all possible, he would have liked to leave it all in the past.

Had that not been for Lucy, of course.

Natsu had thought about her every day he had been awake. Not always for long, but sometimes she would pop up in the back of his mind when he was doing something. He would wonder to himself if she was doing alright. If her memory had come back yet. Was she scared? Was she being treated well? All those questions and more had kept him up late at night wondering.

It wasn't easy getting the answers to those questions. Jellal would never tell him. In fact, he'd yell at him for even being curious. Gray wanted to keep his distance, so he wouldn't go check on them himself. Natsu had no way to contact that Juvia girl. In the end, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

However, that didn't mean rocks were impossible to move.

Natsu had devised what he considered to be the perfect plan. He had spent the previous night thinking it over, going over the motions in his head again and again to see if there were any holes he hadn't thought of. In the end, he had felt satisfied.

It was simple really, at least it was in the way he had described it to Happy when asking for his help. Happy would go into the hospital, sneak into a utility closet and get nursing scrubs, a shower cap and a face mask to protect from germs. He would bring them out to Natsu, who would be waiting nearby and then Natsu would sneak in undetected. He would find the room Lucy was in, and visit with her just long enough to see how she was doing. If she turned out to be fine, he would leave and never come back. They'd have a proper goodbye.

If she wasn't fine…well that was a bridge to cross when he got to it.

So, he waited. He stood outside the hospital near a private entrance, hiding under an awning to escape from the rain. He had pulled the hood of his sweater over his head to hide his bright pink hair, and kept his back to the hospital to try to seem less suspicious. He had been waiting twenty minutes so far, anxious to find out if Happy's infiltration had been a success.

His stomach was churning angrily by the twenty-five minute mark. He bounced from foot to foot, peeking over his shoulder every so often just to see if anything had changed since the last time he had looked.

Natsu wasn't sure why he was so adamant on doing this. Maybe it was because a simple wave from the back of a van didn't seem like a good enough goodbye. Maybe it was because Natsu was so sickened by what had happened to Lucy that he wanted to make sure she would get her happy ending that she deserved. Maybe it was because he knew she was strong-a fighter, and that somewhere deep down he _knew_ she would get through this on her own without him, but for his own selfish reasons he wanted to see it for himself. Maybe it was all of that and more, but the one thing he couldn't shake was the fact that he just wanted to see her.

When the door opened and Happy poked his head out, Natsu felt an instant wave of relief wash over him. Happy motioned him over, holding open the locked door for Natsu to slip in undetected, and guided him inside a utility closet.

"Here, make it quick," Happy said, forcing the items he had "borrowed" into Natsu's hands. "I had, like, seven people ask me if I was lost because I was wandering around on my own."

"Were you?" Natsu grinned down at his brother, trying to quickly pull off his sweater and replace it with the lab coat.

"Shut up," Happy hissed, leaning his ear against the door to listen for anyone coming.

Natsu said nothing and continued grinning as he pulled on the surgical hat and mask. He was risking a lot by doing what he was doing, knowing full well that it was illegal for him to even be inside the hospital. His plan wasn't exactly foolproof, but if he could just make it to see Lucy for five minutes, then it would be worth it.

He tucked away his dog tags under his shirt, his fingers tracing the engraving of his ranking for a moment, his grin lost. It was strange to think that this necklace he wore was like a collar. A brand. It made him instantly recognizable as someone different, which had caused a lot of stress and turmoil in his life.

He hadn't asked to be born a Twilight. He hadn't asked to be given his strength and abilities. He hadn't asked to be different. Yet, life doesn't seem to care whether he asked or not. He was given this life, and whether it was a blessing or a curse was yet to be determined with what he made of it.

Really, only time could tell.

When everything was put on, Natsu turned to his brother. "Let's go," he said, a sudden burst of determination filling the hole the anxiety had left. Happy had only nodded, opening the door and peeking out to make sure the halls were empty.

"She's on the seventh floor," Happy said when he pulled back into the utility closet, keeping his voice low. "I don't know what room but when I checked the files at the front desk the seventh floor is marked off as under construction, which is a lie because I heard a few nurses talking about patients on the seventh floor."

"How did you get ahold of the files at the front desk?" Natsu arched a brow at his brother, impressed and also concerned. Happy had picked up quite a few tricks and tips from growing up around syndicate members, and each time he did something Natsu was always left in awe of how his brother had managed it.

"I waited for the lady at the desk to go to the bathroom," Happy shrugged.

Natsu was in awe of his brother _most_ of the time.

"Alright little man, you ready?" Natsu looked at his brother seriously, knowing they had to act fast but look natural. There were a million things that could go wrong, and they didn't have time for error.

Happy nodded, and Natsu clapped a hand on his shoulder quickly before they turned towards the door. Happy peaked out the door again, motioning Natsu forward when the coast was clear. Natsu strode out into the hallway confidently, following the signs towards the nearest elevator and pressing the button. If he could make it inside and close the doors before anyone could notice him, then he should be alright.

Happy walked up next to Natsu and they stood in silence, waiting for the elevator to climb down to retrieve them. After what felt like an eternity, the elevator dinged and the doors opened, letting out a steady stream of people. Natsu moved out of the way to let them pass, thankful they were all visitors who wouldn't have recognized him as an imposter, and quickly stepped into the elevator when they had all exited.

Happy stepped in next to him, pressing the seventh button and the door close button multiple times. The doors slid shut and the brothers let out a sigh of relief. The elevator began to rise, all too slowly for Natsu's liking, but he was nevertheless grateful that things were going smoothly.

"What are you going to say to her when you see her?" Happy asked, looking up at his brother excitedly.

"Dunno," Natsu shrugged. Truthfully there were lots of things he would have liked to say, the problem was settling on something good to start with.

"Does she _want_ to see you?" Happy asked, arching a brow.

Natsu stilled. He had thought about that, for a great deal of time, actually. _Did_ she want to see him? Was he pushing the boundaries that job had created out of pure selfishness? He could justify his actions in his mind as much as he wanted to, but the plain and simple fact of it all was that it was up to Lucy if she wanted him to stay. If she told him to go, he would go and not look back.

Deep down, a small voice in his head hoped that she allowed him to stay.

"I guess we'll find out, huh?" Natsu said, ruffling the hat on his brothers head and smiling tightly.

After what felt like an eternity, the elevator doors opened.

Happy stepped out first, glancing between either sides of the hallway. He motioned subtlety for Natsu to come, and they turned down the left side of the hallway. Natsu immediately noticed two beat cops standing by a vending machine, talking amongst themselves. Thankfully, their backs were turned to Natsu and he was able to slip by undetected. The last thing he needed was a couple of cops noticing even the smallest off thing about him, and arresting him on the spot.

They walked by the nurses station, the lone nurse working was typing away on a computer, too immersed in whatever she was doing to notice them walking by. Two of three challenges cleared. Natsu didn't know what he had done right in his life for so many things to go right, but he wasn't taking it for granted.

They walked towards the patient rooms, all the doors closed and marked with a single letter on the name section of the patient charts hanging off the door. Happy snuck a peek at each of them, and stopped in front of the fifth door on the right side of the hallway.

Natsu stilled beside him, his heart hammering in his chest.

"This just says 'L'," Happy breathed out, glancing at Natsu. "I think this is it."

"Let's find out," Natsu whispered, placing his hand on the knob and turning it slowly.

He opened the door, poking his head in and glancing around. It was a plain room with a couple of chairs and a tv perched on one wall, and against the opposite wall was a bed and multiple machines. Sitting up in the bed, staring at nothing in particular, was Lucy.

Natsu breathed out a sigh of relief, and slipped into the room, dragging Happy in by his collar. Lucy turned to watch the door in surprise, the sudden activity pulling her out of her daze. She watched Natsu with angry eyes, her posture stiffening like he was already inconveniencing her.

"Can I help you?" Lucy asked, voice thick with annoyance.

Her tone had caught him by surprise. It was quite different from the quiet, sweet girl he had spoken to in the van only a week before. He couldn't blame her though, she was undoubtedly scared and probably frustrated at having been cooped up in the hospital for so long. She needed time to recover, but she still never struck Natsu as the type to be complacent with being stuck in the same place.

"Is that a child?" Lucy continued, not giving Natsu time to answer. She looked perplexed to be seeing a child in her room, and glanced between Happy and Natsu in uncertainty.

"He's my brother," Natsu explained, quickly shutting the door behind them and releasing his grip on Happy's collar.

"Is it bring your family to work day?" Lucy asked, sounding skeptical.

"Something like that," Natsu said quietly, grinning behind his mask quickly before dropping it and lifting his hands up to remove the mask. "Hey," he said, watching as the confusion left Lucy's face.

"Natsu?" She breathed out, blinking back her surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you were doing," he shrugged, striding over to her and stopping by the side of her bed. "How _are_ you doing?"

She looked better than the last time he had seen her. Her bruises were fading and there was more colour to her skin. She didn't look so sickeningly skinny either, so he was thankful to know she was being taken care of. Her blonde hair looked vibrate and not brittle, and there weren't any shadows under her eyes. He instantly felt relieved to see the visible changes in her appearance, and was glad that he was able to see them for himself.

"I'm okay," she said, brushing over the topic quickly to ask, "why are you wearing that?"

"Ah, well," Natsu lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. "Twilight's aren't technically _allowed_ in some places, like public hospitals. So, I came in undercover. Do you think I could get a job doing what Juvia does?"

Lucy laughed, a small tinkling sound that almost sounded rusty like she hadn't done it in awhile. As pleased as he was to hear her laugh, it also broke his heart a little.

"I don't think they accept syndicate members," Lucy said, watching him in amusement. "But maybe she can put in a good word for you."

He grinned. "Maybe."

"This is your brother," Lucy looked past him at Happy, the younger boy standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, unsure what to do. "He looks young."

"He's ten," Natsu said, glancing at his brother proudly. There was no one on the planet Natsu cared about more than his brother. They were as thick as thieves. "He acts like he's thirty, though."

Lucy giggled again, before smiling softly at Happy. "Nice to meet you, I'm Lucy."

"I'm Happy," Happy said shyly, twisting the tip of his shoe into the tile floor.

"He's cute," Lucy grinned at Natsu.

"It's a family trait," Natsu joked, flicking his nose cockily.

"I see," Lucy snorted. "How's your arm?"

Natsu lifted his sleeve to show her the cast Porlyusica had given him, and grinned at her. "Its healing nicely," he explained, thankful for the Twilight blood in him that allowed him to heal faster than the average person. "I should be back to full health within the next week or two. How have you been feeling?"

There was a flash of emotion that passed across Lucy's face. It was gone in an instant, almost a trick of the light if Natsu hadn't been perceptive enough to notice it. It was the same thing Gray did when he didn't want to talk about something painful. The instantaneous creation of a metaphorical mask made to protect someone.

"Better," Lucy settled on, avoiding his eyes for a moment. Her fingers twisted against the sheets of her bed, her knuckles slowly turning white from the force. "I'm just waiting to get out of here. I'd really like to go outside at some point."

Natsu felt sick when the realization of what she had meant settled in. He had no idea how long she had been cooped up in Bora's house, never able to leave and see the world, all while being repeatedly violated. Only to go from that, to being stuck in a hospital where she was babied and trapped in another white-walled room. Lucy hadn't had a proper moment of freedom since she had taken her first steps out of the van.

"You will," Natsu said seriously, all traces of humour gone from his face. Lucy looked at him then, surprised by the sudden shift in the atmosphere. "You'll get out of here soon enough, and then I'll take you all around Magnolia, like a personal tour guide."

She smiled at him then, soft and genuine. The mask she was wearing broke just for a moment, just enough to let life back into her eyes. An emotion Natsu couldn't quite place swelled in him, and he made it a personal goal to see that expression on her face once more.

"Thank you," Lucy said quietly, her eyes tinged a little red with the sudden influx of emotion. "I'd like that. I'm also really glad you came to visit me."

Natsu grinned down at her, a sudden warmth flushing his cheeks. He was hoping his appearance would make her happy, and he was glad it came true. There was something about Lucy that pulled him to her, like a magnetic force. He couldn't quite place it, and it wasn't anything so simple as outward attractions. It was almost like they belonged in the same space, and things felt right when they were together. Natsu didn't want today to be their final goodbye, even though it probably would have been better for him in the long run. Selfishly, he wanted it to be their beginning.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner," he said, honest. He had wanted to come as soon as he had woken up, but he somehow didn't have to courage to do it quite yet. He kept talking himself out of it, until it became too difficult to bear. "I'll try to come every chance I get, though. I think this lab coat looks good on me, don't you?"

Lucy laughed again, the sound starting to become more natural with practise. "It suits you," she said, smiling at him.

"Is there anything you want me to bring next time?" He asked, hoping he could do at least something to make her stay at the hospital more comfortable.

Lucy hummed for a moment, in thought. She rolled her eyes to the ceiling and tapped her chin gently with her forefinger, and absently Natsu thought she looked a little cute, in an innocent sort of way. He was realizing that Lucy was multifaceted, and not to be taken lightly. She was strong, but also gentle. Sweet but also serious. He realized then that he had wanted to see every side of her. He wanted to know things about her she kept tucked away in nooks and crannies.

"I'd like a book," Lucy said after a moment, turning to look at him intently. "It can be anything, but I do like fantasy books the best."

"Okay," Natsu nodded, determined to get her the best book he could get his hands on. "I'll get you your book, but in return you have to do something for me."

Lucy looked surprised for a moment, then her eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. "What?" She asked, curious but also a little worried.

"You have to think of the first thing you wanna do when you get out of here, and then tell me so I can plan for it," he grinned down at her proudly, elated at the way her expression shifted to excitement.

"Okay, I think I can do that," Lucy said, trying to reign in her emotions.

"Good," Natsu said, nodding.

He was about to say something else when the door handle twisted.

In a matter of seconds, Natsu reattached the mask to his face and jumped over to where Happy was, grabbing him by the collar again. The door opened, revealing Jellal and a beat cop, both stopping their conversation to stare at the scene in the room in surprise. Jellal narrowed his eyes instantly, glancing between Natsu and Happy before settling a glare on Natsu.

"Hello doctor," the nameless cop said, stepping into the room and nodding at Natsu. "Everything okay in here?"

"Fine, fine," Natsu said quickly, trying to lower the pitch of his voice so it wasn't recognizable. Panic started to swell in him, and he knew his cover was blown. If Jellal felt like it, Natsu could have been arrested immediately for trespassing and identity theft. "Just found this little boy wandering around, lost. I'll bring him to the room he's looking for. Have a nice day, officers."

"You too, _Doctor_ ," Jellal said, an underlying venom in his voice as he stepped aside to let Natsu brush past him.

Natsu stole a glance at Lucy on his way out, pleased to see the tiny smile on her face she was desperately trying to push down so as not to give them away. Silently, he told her goodbye and see you soon. He promised himself he would get her that book, and until then, he had all the time in the world to think about their first day together once she was released.

He quickly guided Happy down the hallway towards the elevator, his spirits lifted and a game plan in mind.

Natsu knew he wasn't supposed to get close to her. He knew he was playing a dangerous game, especially considering he was both a Twilight and a syndicate member. He was playing a losing game, one that the tables could be turned on him in an instant. However, he was optimistic. If he could get through the life he did, then he could stay by Lucy's side for as long as she would allow him to.

He hoped that would be a long, long time.

* * *

 **A/n: hey guys ! Long time no see! Gosh I'm soooo sorry this took so long to get out, ever since getting back from my trip I have been incredibly busy and I've had no time to write. I'm so sorry, thanks for waiting and being so patient.**

 **This chapter was a lil more than 8.5k words as a proper apology, and since y'all have been so patient while waiting for the future romances to grow, I decided to give y'all a little taste haha. This was incredibly fun to write, and gave me a ton of ideas for future chapters, which I hope y'all will like.**

 **Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed, both guest and not, y'all have consistently been incredibly sweet and enthusiastic. I have a couple people to get back to, im sorry I haven't had moment to message you, but I appreciate you guys with all my heart ! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you wouldn't mind leaving a review I'd really appreciate it. Your thoughts are what keep me going with this!**

 **As always, I'll see y'all when I next update. I work 6 days a week now with incredibly long shifts, so idk if I'll get a chance to update on time next week, but here's hoping! Have a good week guys !**


	10. Memories

The smile Lucy had been trying to hide immediately dropped when Natsu and Happy left her room. She felt a certain weight lift off her shoulders when she realized she didn't have to put on a facade anymore. She hadn't spoken to Jellal much in the past week, but she was sure he was in the know enough to be able to tell when she was putting on a show.

Lucy was tired. Exhausted even. Both emotionally and physically, she was spent. Some days she didn't even have enough energy to finish a proper meal. Not that that was a big deal, considering how poor the hospital food was.

It was tiring, trying to act like everything was fine. She felt that people had expectations of her. They had seen how hard she worked the night of the rescue, and she somehow had managed to convince herself that they wanted her to continue doing better. More. Pushing herself past her capabilities.

Lucy knew everything wasn't fine. Nothing was fine and it wouldn't be for a long time, if ever at all. Some days she wasn't even sure she could get to a place where she didn't feel the sudden urge to be sick when looking at her reflection. She could see a girl staring back at her, but not one she knew. The girl on the other side of the glass was broken, beaten, and glued back together by force of will alone. She had vacant eyes and skin as thick as armour. Her name was Lucy, but that was all the identity she had at the moment.

Trying to explain that to anyone who cared to listen was almost impossible for Lucy. How could they understand? How could they know what she had been through if they hadn't been through it themselves? When the doctors came to ask questions Lucy got angry. Bitter. She felt exposed in a new light and she wanted to run and hide from all their prying as far away as she could. They wouldn't understand. They _couldn't_ understand. It was Lucy against the world, and she had never felt more alone.

"Hello, Lucy," Jellal spoke up, turning away from the door where Natsu had exited moments ago to look at her. His expression was unreadable, but his voice was soft. Gentle. He was trying to put her at ease. "I know you've been through a lot recently, and even a week alone doesn't seem like nearly enough time, but I wanted to ask you a couple questions. If it makes you more comfortable I can ask for a female nurse to stay in the room with us."

Lucy flinched at that. _Been through a lot._ The words repeated in her head again and again until they twisted and jumbled and she couldn't understand them anymore. Was that how he wanted to reduce it all to? _Been through a lot_. That was the tip of the iceberg, in Lucy's mind. Of course she had been through a lot. She had been through more than she had ever thought she could handle. She had been through more of something that should _never_ happen to anyone, more times than she could count. If that was considered _been through a lot,_ then Lucy had been around the block a hundred times over.

She glanced between the two men standing near the entrance of the room. Jellal, tall with broad shoulders, had a composed expression on his face and an air of calm about him. Lucy got the impression he had worked previous cases like hers before, and was handling it professionally.

The other man, shorter by a few inches and a thinner, wiry frame, looked completely out of his element. He looked young, maybe early twenties, and the expression on his face exposed how out of depth he was with what was happening. He was looking at Lucy with pity in his eyes, watching her carefully like she was some kind of wild animal whose actions were unpredictable.

Lucy didn't like this man. She didn't like how he looked at her. She didn't like how he shifted from foot to foot uneasily. She didn't like how his fingers on his right hand twitched ever so slightly when they got close to his holstered gun. She knew instantly he was a trigger-happy newbie who probably thought his job would go easier if she was dead within the next five minutes.

"Why is he here?" Lucy asked, ignoring Jellal's words entirely to stare at the new guy. She met his eyes and she caught them widen just a fraction, his shoulders stiffening. She knew that look. That was the look of a man who was looking at something dead. Something broken.

Lucy didn't like the term broken. To be broken is to need to be fixed. Lucy didn't need to be fixed, Lucy needed to have the past few months of her life back and what had happened to not have had happen. Those things weren't fixable, not unless she had a wish from God or a magic wand. The girl on the other side of the mirror might be broken, but she fixed herself. She didn't need magic or wishes to do that, she needed to believe in herself.

Lucy wasn't broken. She was reborn. Maybe not in the way she would have liked, but she knew the girl from her past life was gone for now. She desperately wanted to be that person again, but until that point (if it ever came) she would have to accept who she was at the moment. She was a fighter, regardless of how tired or spent she was. She would claw her way out of the dirt and the bloody mountain that was her past and she would conquer it. Maybe not today, or tomorrow or even the next day, but she would do it.

She would survive.

"This is officer Jamison," Jellal gestured to the man, just a half hearted flick of his wrist to show how uninterested he was in the explanation. Lucy guessed he had either been here for a long time, or had a long day ahead of him, and the quicker it went by the better. That suited her just fine. "He's going to be taking notes while I ask you questions. Does that bother you?"

"He's...too fidgety," Lucy admitted, watching him carefully. Jamison glanced between her and Jellal awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

"Stop fidgeting, Jamison," Jellal ordered, frowning at the younger man. "If standing is too hard for you, go grab us a couple chairs."

"Y-yessir," Jamison fumbled, turning quickly to grab chairs from the back end of the room. He placed them a few feet away from Lucy, maintaining enough of a distance he thought would make her more comfortable. Or maybe, Lucy thought, it was for his own comfortability. Either way, she was fine with it.

The two men took their seats, Jamison scrambling for his pen and paper and opening up the small notebook to a fresh page. Jellal sat in silence for a moment, crossing one leg over the other as he glanced around the room nonchalantly. He looked unimpressed when he had finished, and Lucy couldn't blame him. The room was dull, boring, and she hated it.

"If these questions get to be a bit... _much_ for you, let me know," Jellal began, turning to look at Lucy. His tone and expression was composed, and he sat comfortably, like he belonged there. Lucy wasn't quite sure what to make of his attitude, but mostly she felt annoyed. There was something grating about him that wormed its way under her skin. Was he haughty? Cocky? Rude? She couldn't tell. She couldn't read him, and that bothered her.

Jellal continued on, ignorant to her unasked questions. "We are aware that you girls happen to have a small case of amnesia, so we're unable to get full details from all of you, but we hope that with each answer we might be able to connect the dots. To do so, we require you to answer questions that might trigger painful memories. We won't take much of your time, but if you need a break or get overwhelmed, we'll stop. Are you ready?"

His voice sounded rehearsed. She wondered if he had said the same thing to all the other girls, or if it was a memorized speech from a different time she was unaware of. The lack of emotion in his tone fed into her annoyance, bridging the territory closer into anger. Was this really something to be so cavalier about? Was she the only one who cared about what she had been through?

"I'm ready," she said after a moment, trying to reign in the obvious irritation in her tone. Both men caught it, Jamison glancing at Jellal quickly, obviously nervous. Jellal didn't even blink, brushing off her tone instantly.

"Okay," Jellal nodded. "Let's begin."

* * *

Juvia stared at the Manila package on top of her desk. She had been looking at it for the past hour now, wishing it away with all of her energy. The stamped black letters that read the word CONFIDENTIAL in bold font ran across the front, staring back at her almost tauntingly. The package was thick, which meant more information that she would have to cram into her brain. It meant a new identity she had to impersonate. It meant a new mission.

She had been home a week, just long enough to write her report, clean her apartment, and read the last of the book she had left behind when she left for Hargeon months ago. A week to barely relax and catch her breath. She knew she should have enjoyed it more. She was kicking herself for taking more showers than long baths, and not eating the chocolate covered cookies she loved so much from the grocery store down the street from her apartment, and not lighting as many scented candles as she wanted.

Mostly she kicked herself for not being able to visit Lucy more than once. Their last visit only a few days beforehand was cut short by Lucy's withdrawals acting up, something Juvia should have seen coming but was too blinded to notice. Juvia knew it was probably for the best that she go on a mission and leave Lucy to the professionals, but secretly it made her heart hurt. She wanted to be there for her. She wanted to be a support.

Absently, Juvia wondered if the package and the mission itself would just go away if Juvia didn't open it. If she left it alone or passed it on to someone else, it wouldn't be her problem anymore. She knew that was childish, and more than likely wouldn't work, but still the thought pressed her mind.

"Where are you headed this time?" Gajeel asked when he noticed the package on her desk on his return from the kitchen to grab coffee. He sat on the corner of her desk, steaming mug in hand, and glanced down at her over the brim of his drink. He sounded intrigued, albeit a bit bored. After a certain amount of time, when a coworker got sent on a mission it just became routine and lost its lustre.

"I'm not sure," she shook her head slightly, a lock of hair falling from behind her ear into her face.

"You're not opening it?" He sounded surprised. She couldn't blame him, usually she was eager to open missions, hoping they contained the one she had been waiting years for. She usually opened packages like an eager child opening a package of trading cards, praying for the one she desperately wanted and disappointed when she got more of the same she already had. After seven years of disappointment, she wasn't sure how much more her heart could take.

"Who knows," she murmured, glaring down at the package, not even wanting to touch it to move it out of the way.

"Don't be such a baby," Gajeel sighed, placing his mug down on her desk and snatching up the package. She made a sound of protest, watching him in betrayal.

He waved her off with silent annoyance, his fingers tearing through the top of the package with ease. He pulled out the file, his eyes scanning the words quickly as a pierced eyebrow lifted. When he was finished reading, he scoffed and dropped the papers in front of her.

"Nothing exciting," he retrieved his mug, lifting it up to his mouth with lazy movements. His interest had plummeted, and so had hers, what little of it she had, anyway. "They want you to infiltrate some newbie gang outside of town. They don't belong to any of the Four Fathers; something independent. They're barely worth your time."

Juvia deflated instantly. She glared down at the pages in front of her, the top most page her new identity. _Amelie Gotier._ 25, dropped out of college for having an affair with her professor, past drug mule, had a part to play in one or two bank heists. Her life sounded much more exciting than Juvia's. Maybe Amelie would have been fun to take on for a bit, but the task seemed like a chore the more she thought about it.

"Do I look like an Amelie?" She asked, not bothering to look up at Gajeel.

"No," he said bluntly, reaching over to pat her shoulder with a heavy hand. "No you don't. Good luck though, I'm sure you'll be home in no time."

With that, he pushed off her desk and wandered away, mug in hand. Juvia said nothing as he left, and instead sighed and sat back in her chair, glaring at the package. With slow, heavy hands she reached for the papers and began reading. She knew she needed to get acquainted with her new self as fast as she could, as the instructions in the file said they wanted her gone by the next morning.

* * *

 _Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

The hands of the analog clock at the end of Lucy's room clicked away, stealing her time and making it disappear before she could notice it. It was after 7 pm now, the sun almost finished setting outside her window splaying a myriad of reds, oranges and yellows across the floor of her room.

Jellal's voice had been calm. Slow. Understanding. He waited patiently for her to answer questions and double-checked every so often that Jamison was writing things down properly. Each question he asked became more detailed. What had she seen? What had she smelled? Who had she seen? Were there other girls? How long had she been there? Could she describe the routine? Could she describe the room she stayed in? What was Bora like? Did he touch her? Hit her? Rape her?

Each question felt like an arrow piercing her skin. The more he asked, the more she felt her self control wearing down. The armour she had carefully built up to protect her heart crumbled away and panic set in. She had done her best to answer the questions to the best of her knowledge (which, so far, hadn't been much). Eventually the weariness of it all began to set in, and Lucy found herself on the verge of a panic attack.

"Can you describe…"

"What was that like?"

"Did he…."

The questions were more in depth than she could remember, but eventually they all started to blur together. Panic started to set in, crashing against her body like angry waves as she wracked her brain for answers she didn't have. Her fingers began to tremble and her breaths quickened. When the room started to spin, Lucy thought she couldn't take anymore.

"What were your parents like?" Jellal asked, his voice melodic.

Lucy stopped. Everything stopped. The spinning, the heavy beat of her heart, the world. Everything paused and waited for her to answer. She stilled in her bed, staring unseeingly down at her lap at the pristine white sheets of her bed and searched her mind for answers that wouldn't come.

 _What were her parents like?_

She didn't know. Was she supposed to know? Of course she was. Everyone knows what their parents are like. Why couldn't she remember something as simple as that? How could her brain forget something so important? She wanted to know the answer to the question. She wanted to know so desperately her nails dug into her palms until they bled and her temples hurt from her clenched jaw. It was a physically want—a need. An unequivocal desire that stemmed from the mind of a lonely lost girl who just wanted her parents in a world that she felt so utterly alone in.

"I don't know," she finally blurted out, a familiar sentence she must have said a hundred times within the hour.

"Okay," Jellal said, nodding. She was positive she heard disappointment in his tone.

Lucy snapped.

"What do you fucking _want_ from me?" Lucy snarled, her hands beginning to shake again as thin trails of blood dripped down onto the sheets. "Are we not done yet? I don't want to do this anymore. I want to go home!"

Jellal was quiet for a moment, thoughtful. "Where is home?" He finally asked, waiting patiently for her answer.

"I don't know!" She shouted it at him, angrily. She paused then, staring past him at a vacant wall. "I don't know," she repeated, quietly this time.

The tears came before she could stop them. They rolled down her cheeks and off her chin and mixed in with the blood soaked sheets. It felt like a water dam had broken, since she couldn't stop the tears from falling. Endlessly they flowed out of her eyes, and eventually the sobs began to set in.

Lucy clutched the sides of her forehead, sobs turning into screams. Her breath quickened and quickened until it suddenly became too much to keep track of. She felt the panic rise and her throat grow so raw she thought it was being torn out of her body. The blood from her palms smeared onto her skin and in her hair but she didn't care. She wanted the world to stop. She wanted everything to stop.

She wanted her parents.

"I'll go get a nurse," Jamison said quickly, starting to rise from his chair.

"Wait," Jellal held out an arm to stop him, watching Lucy carefully. "Just leave her be for a moment."

Lucy screamed again but it died halfway through, the noise petering out into something tragic and garbled. She choked and sobbed and eventually her breath started to slow. Her fingers loosened against her skin, her body suddenly feeling weak from the sudden panic attack.

"Lucy, what were your parents like?" Jellal tried again, voice softer this time.

Lucy didn't know if God was looking down on her, or if the world was throwing her a bone, but at that moment she remembered something.

* * *

As a man who lived alone in a relatively small apartment, Gray didn't need to do a lot of shopping. He often got meals at the syndicate bar; the dishes there a hundred times better than he could have ever come up with himself. However, on a rare night like this one, Gray decided to treat himself by making his favourite meal.

It was his mothers recipe for risotto, a family recipe passed down for generations, or so he had been told. The secret ingredient was the sauce his family had created, and Gray had spent all of the night before making jars full of the best tomato sauce on the planet. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it for the end result. However, he hadn't realized what little bit of cheese he had left had expired months ago, and had travelled to the grocery store to buy some more.

It was a tiny super market just a few blocks from his apartment complex. Nothing fancy, but a small section of everything, which made it worth going to. Among the cheese he had picked up a few snacks and a DVD copy of one of his favourite movies that they had on sale in the bargain bin.

As he traveled the store on his way to the cash register, he caught sight of a familiar flash of blue hair. He stopped in his tracks, peeking around an aisle corner and eyed the figure of a woman standing in front of the milk aisle indecisively. When she picked the jug she had wanted and turned to go, Gray noticed it wasn't Juvia, like he had originally thought, and in fact was just some girl with the same colour hair. He turned away quickly before she caught him staring, and he inspected a box of frozen pizza like it was the most interesting thing on the planet until she walked past him.

He had realized then that he had spent the past few days thinking about Juvia more than he would have liked to admit. After he had walked her home a few days prior, she had been consuming his thoughts whenever he had down time. Really, he could chalk up their interaction as a drunk girl spilling secrets about her life, and it had left him so baffled he couldn't stop thinking about what she had told him that she was on his brain constantly, but he knew there was something more to it.

He thought of her then, wondering if she was sitting diligently at her desk and typing away at her computer. She had told him she spent most of her time doing that when she was back in Magnolia, and he wasn't surprised. He wondered if she wished she were away, like she had told him on the boat, or if she was already badgering Jellal for a job. Some part of his brain had told him if she left soon, he would like to say goodbye, even if it was quick and altogether immemorable.

He thought back to the few days before when he had helped her up the stairs to her apartment, her tiny frame so light against him he barely remembered the fact that she was a trained killer. She had felt so small next to him; her appearance was so deceiving.

He remembered helping her down the hall to her door, and waiting patiently for her to put the key in the door. She had gotten it on her fifth try, insistent on doing it herself and batting him away anytime he offered to do it for him. He remembered standing there, the door half open with a hand on her waist, waiting for whatever was going to happen next.

"Wanna know a secret?" She had asked, voice slurring and eyes half lidded.

"Sure," he had answered in amusement, waiting patiently for whatever drunken babble she was about to tell him.

She had taken a half step closer to him, her body pressed almost flush against him. He remembered the feeling of the heat of her body radiating against him, the space between them suddenly feeling constricting. He remembered her leaning up, so close their noses almost brushed, and then her lips right next to his ear. He remembered her voice, low and quiet, the breath hot on skin and her words making his hair stand on end.

"I used to be engaged," she said it calmly, almost half heartedly, like the statement wasn't something that was a big deal.

She fell back on the balls of her feet, looking at him like she was content with what she had just said. He stared at her in shock, unsure of what to do.

"You...were?" His voice had faltered on the question, the statement of what she had just said still being processed in his brain.

She nodded then, blue hair falling in her face after coming loose from her ear. In the dim lighting of the hallway, she looked smaller there. Vulnerable. She had just exposed herself to him, and it was slowly starting to set in that even though she was acting cavalier, it was a big deal to her. Gray wasn't sure what to say or do, his thoughts and feelings a torrent inside of him, torn between grateful she told him and worried about her.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out between you two," he had said, the words spilling out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Too caught up in the fact that he was taking care of her, Gray hadn't realized the liquor he had drank himself had caught up with him. He wasn't nearly as bad as she was, but he did have a bad habit of saying whatever was on his mind whenever he was tipsy. Unlike sober Gray, who kept his mouth shut and observed, tipsy Gray was loose lipped and paid no mind to future consequences.

Somehow, in the late of the night and the vacancy of the hallway, it had felt like time had stopped. Their conversation wouldn't affect the relationship they had in the outside world. They would continue to cross paths in a professional matter, knowing hardly anything about each other that would warrant an attachment. But for the moment, they could say and do whatever they wanted. This hallway was the threshold between their world and the outside world, one they hadn't quite crossed over yet. They still had time.

He looked at her then, in that moment. Her face was half covered in shadow, her hair slightly unkempt from a long day at work. She stood a full head smaller than him, her head tilted up to watch him with an obvious curiosity, lips slightly parted like she was about to say something. Her took her in like she was a painting at a museum, a work of art left up to interpretation. Beautiful and wild. Strong, but kind. She was something like a puzzle he hadn't quite worked out yet, and the closer he got the more complex she became.

Before he could realize he was moving, his hand came up and gently took the lock of hair that had fallen from her ear. He moved it between his fingers for a moment, admiring the softness, before he gently tucked it back behind her ear. His thumb brushed over her cheekbone then, barely touching her skin as if he was worried it would break.

"He's an idiot for losing you," the words came out of his mouth barely above a whisper, their low lidded eyes met and an unspoken tension between them. He took a half step closer to her, his hand still gentle against her face, his body electric and excited with the prospect of closing the distance. They were so close, just a simple bend of his back and he could have bridged the distance.

His head dipped down after a moment of hesitation, his hand taking a firmer grasp of her cheek, still gentle enough in its own right. His other hand came up to rest on her waist, and he pulled her close, just enough so that she was leaning into him. His head came down, breath held in anticipation as he neared her lips.

Just as he was about to kiss her, she turned away sharply. He got a nose full of her hair, and shock coursed through his body. He hesitated a moment, unsure of what had just happened. Did he miss? Had he read the signs wrong? He could have sworn he had seen the same desire he had in her eyes. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but deep down he disagreed with the thought.

"I'm sorry," she had said, voice strained from trying to keep composure. "I have to go."

"Right," he said into her hair, dropping his hands and stepping back.

She refused to look at him then, her cheeks aflame in the low light and her eyes glossy. Shame filled him then, the immediate want to comfort her filling him. He hadn't meant to make her upset. He hadn't meant to be selfish.

"I'm sorry," he said, meaning it. She looked at him then, confused. "I shouldn't have done that. I crossed a line."

She hesitated, a mixture of emotions flitting across her face so fast he couldn't quite catch them all. "It's fine," she shook her head eventually, putting on her protective mask so her expression was unreadable. He wished it was something physical so he could have ripped it off. He didn't want to see the fake Juvia, he wanted to see the real one. The one who existed in the threshold, the exposed version. "It's late, I should go. Thank you for walking me home."

He nodded then, the feeling almost robotic. They stared at each other for a moment, tension in the air and electricity in their bodies. There was something unspoken there, between them. Gray knew he wasn't imagining things, but he wasn't going to press his luck. Tonight was something of a failure, but maybe eventually he would gain a win. He would be patient, he would respect her boundaries, but there was a hesitation in her when she turned to go. He could feel it.

"Good night," he had said, quietly, a soft smile on his face.

"Good night," her voice was soft and the words hung in the air with a finality after she stepped into her apartment and closed the door.

When the memory ended, Gray was left feeling uncertain and confused. He had mulled over the time in the hallway over the past few days, thinking it over and over again just to make sure if he missed anything. Had he read the signs wrong? Had he just been selfish? Did he say something wrong? There was a lot he didn't know about Juvia, and a lot he wasn't sure he was ever going to find out.

He wasn't sure exactly when it hit him that he wanted to take the plunge and kiss her. He had never thought it was an option. Frankly, it probably _wasn't_ an option, but he hadn't known that until he tried. Up until that point she was just a cop who he had put his differences aside with and worked together for a night. Up until then she was just a woman who he had shared an incredibly long car ride with. Up until then, she was a stranger who was interesting and complex, but all and all he didn't think anything more would come of it.

Something in the back of his mind told him his path would continue to cross with a Juvia for a long time. He wasn't sure if good or bad things would come of it, but somehow he knew he would see her again.

There was something changing in the air of Magnolia recently. He could feel it; something big was coming and with it, it brought change. Gray had the distinct feeling that there was unfinished business in town, and he was going to be seeing Juvia again very soon.

He didn't realize until much later how complicated things were going to become.

* * *

Lucy felt warm. Rays of sunshine were hitting her back, tanning her skin and heating her body to the core. She was standing in the middle of a huge stretch of grass, the sky blue and clear above her. It was summer, birds chirping and a general sense of freshness all around her.

She couldn't recognize where she was from just the grass around her. Somewhere secluded, she thought. Private. In one of her hands was a doll, hanging limply above the ground in her grasp, a vacant smile staring back up at her from the sewed face.

"Lucy," a woman's voice called to her. The voice was gentle, kind. Immediately, Lucy felt safe once she heard it.

She turned then, spinning on her heel and watching as a tall woman in a long white summer dress walked towards her, holding two glasses of lemonade in her hand. Her long blonde hair was piled high atop her head, and her brown eyes were full of a familiar warmth. She smiled at Lucy, her teeth dazzling and bright.

"Mama!" Lucy heard herself call, a grin stretching across her face from ear to ear. She took off running then, towards the woman she could only assume was her mother.

The woman bent down into the grass, opening her arms for Lucy to run into, hugging her carefully around the glasses in her hands. When they broke apart from each other, the woman handed Lucy a glass and smiled.

"You must be thirsty after playing all day," she said, watching Lucy happily drink the sour drink. "Did you have fun?"

"Yes!" Lucy heard herself exclaim excitedly, holding the large glass in a pair of tiny hands. She realized this must have been a childhood memory.

"I'm so glad," the woman smiled again, and rose to her full height. She held out her hand for Lucy to take, which she gratefully accepted. "Let's go have dinner with Papa, he's waiting at home for us."

"Okay!" Lucy cheered again, walking next to her mother across the field.

The memory ended, and Lucy returned to the present. Soft tears bounced off her cheeks, landing with a splatter against the sheets of her bed, which greedily absorbed them. The room was silent and cold, nothing like the warm expanse of her memory. She was suddenly forced back into reality, the thought sickening her.

"Lucy?" Jellal's voice was soft still, gently probing. He watched her expectantly, like he knew what had just happened.

"My mother is kind," Lucy said, lifting her eyes to meet his. She met him confidently, determination filling her.

Her mother was kind, and beautiful, and warm. Her mother was out there, somewhere, and Lucy would make it back to her. After that memory, Lucy knew she had the capabilities of becoming her old self again. She would go back to her mother and start her life over.

For the first time in a long time, Lucy felt hopeful. She could take what life threw at her, and rise above it. She was going to get her memory back and go home.

She had found her purpose.

* * *

 **A/n: hey everyone! Long time no see! I'm about to jet off to work rn so this will be super short! I had written a scene with Juvia and gray that was very similar to the one in this chapter and changed it cause I didn't like it and was surprised when I wrote the one here. Oh well. I hope the gruvia fans liked it tho! (Don't worry nalu fans, your time is coming I promise)**

 **i happened to put this on AO3 under the name countingcrows so if anyone sees on there and is confused, uh, yeah that's me. I'll update it at some point.**

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Y'all are incredible ! I will be personally messaging all the people I can tonight after work. I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it's still filler but we're getting closer to the plot at this point. I gotta go but see you soon!**


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